A  CHURCH  AND 

COMMUNITY  SURVEY  OF 

SALEM  COUNTY 

NEW  JERSEY 


MADE   UNDER   THE   DIRECTION   OF 

EDMUND  deS.  BRUNNER 

DIRECTOR,    DEPARTMENT   OF    TOWN    AND    COUNTRY    SURVEYS 


BR 

555 

.N55 

33 

1922 


COMMITTEE   ON    SOCIAL   AND   RELIGIOUS    SURVEYS 


NEW  Xar^  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


BR  555  .N55  S3  1922 
Brunner,  Edmund  de 
Schweinitz,  1889- 
A  church  and  community 


A   CHURCH  AND 

COMMUNITY  SURVEY  OF 

SALEM  COUNTY 


NEW  JERSEY  /<^ 


f*     COT  1 1  ] 


%6/CAL 


MADE    UNDER   THE   DIRECTION    OF 

EDMUND  deS.  BRUNNER 

DIRECTOR,    DEPARTMENT    OF    TOWN    AND    COUNTRY    SURVEYS 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS 
MAPS  AND  CHARTS 


COMMITTEE  ON 
SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SURVEYS 


NEW  >tBJr    YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    1922, 
BY    GEORGE    H.    DORAN    COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


FOREWORD 

THIS  pamphlet  is  one  of  a  series  which  present  the  results 
of  a  Church  Survey  in  the  field  of  Town  and  Country, 
begun  under  the  auspices  of  the  Interchurch  World  Move- 
ment, and  completed  by  the  Committee  on  Social  and  Religious 
Surveys.  From  among  the  one  thousand  county  surveys  which 
the  Interchurch  had  undertaken  and  in  which  considerable  prog- 
ress had  been  made,  a  limited  number  were  selected  for  com- 
pletion on  an  intensive  plan,  in  the  belief  that  these  would  throw 
light  upon  some  of  the  more  important  problems  of  church  and 
community  life.  The  selection  was  made  with  great  care.  Certain 
fundamental  factors  were  examined  in  all  of  the  counties  in  which 
a  survey  had  been  undertaken,  so  that  outstanding  abnormalities 
might  be  avoided,  or  proper  account  taken  of  them.  Agricultural, 
educational  and  religious  officials  were  consulted.  State  and  Fed- 
eral census  reports  studied.  The  counties  selected  are  so  dis- 
tributed over  the  United  States  as  to  afford  fairly  typical  specimens 
of  Town  and  Country  Survey  for  all  the  great  regions  into  which 
the  country  is  divided.  It  must  be  recognized,  however,  that  no 
county  can  be  completely  typical  of  any  larger  area  in  respect 
to  every  situation. 

These  studies  have  been  made  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
church  recognizing,  however,  that  economic  and  social  conditions 
aiifect  church  life.  The  community  has,  therefore,  been  studied 
as  well  as  the  church.  Communities  have  been  located  and  defined, 
their  economic  background  investigated,  their  population  analyzed. 
Those  factors  which  enter  into  the  make-up  of  the  social  mind,  such 
as  social  life,  public  opinion,  leadership,  means  of  communication, 
social  affiliations  and  community  spirit,  have  all  been  evaluated. 
Community  activities,  particularly  those  dealing  with  amusement 
and  recreation,  have  been  recognized  and  noted.  The  schools  and 
their  contribution  to  community  life  have  been  taken  into  account. 
And  all  has  been  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  church. 

The  study  of  the  church  has  been  made  from  the  point  of  view 
of  its  history,  its  equipment,  its  financial  system,  its  members  and 
their  occupations,  its  services  and  their  type,  the  parish,  organiza- 

iii 


FOREWORD 

tions  such  as  the  Sunday  School,  the  Young  People's  Societies  and 
their  program. 

An  intensive  study  has  been  made  of  the  distinctly  rural  areas 
and  of  those  centers  of  population  which  have  less  than  five  thousand 
inhabitants.  In  the  cases  of  towns  larger  than  this,  an  attempt 
has  been  made  to  measure  the  service  of  such  towns  to  the  sur- 
rounding countryside. 

Spiritual  results  in  church  work  are  not  measurable  by  the  foot 
rule  of  statistics.  This  survey  does  not  deal,  therefore,  with  the 
spiritual  product  of  any  church  in  the  lives  of  individuals,  but 
with  community  conditions  and  the  mechanics  of  administration 
which  are  instruments  for  carrying  on  church  activities  and  spiritual 
work. 

The  reader  must  understand  that  figures  have  often  been  given 
in  percentages  as  aids  in  comparison.  He  should  be  cautioned, 
however,  against  being  misled  by  percentage  figures  where  the  num- 
ber of  cases  happens  to  be  very  small. 

The  aim  of  the  survey  is  distinctly  practical.  It  is  hoped  that 
it  will  prove  to  be  of  value  not  only  to  the  churches  and  communities 
of  the  county  surveyed,  and  to  church  boards  and  societies  operat- 
ing therein,  but  also  to  social  and  educational  agencies  which  are 
interested  in  rural  work  generally.  It  is  also  believed  that  the 
situations  discovered  and  the  problems  emerging  in  each  of  these 
surveys  will  be  found  to  bear  sufficient  resemblance  to  those  in 
other  counties  within  the  same  region,  as  to  render  the  policies  and 
programs  proposed  of  definite  value  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the 
areas  that  have  been  intensively  studied. 

The  results  of  these  surveys  will  untimately  be  published  in 
twelve  volumes,  three  of  which  will  treat  individual  counties  illustrat- 
ing a  survey  method  in  a  single  rural  geographical  and  political 
unit.  The  Salem  County  volume  is  one  of  the  three.  It  will  be 
followed  by  similar  studies  of  a  middle  western  and  far  western 
county. 

The  remaining  volumes  will  treat  of  outstanding  problems  in 
several  well  defined  regions  such  as  the  South,  the  Range  and  the 
Northwest,  on  the  basis  of  two  or  more  representative  counties  in 
each  of  these  regions.  There  will  also  be  a  final  volume  summarizing 
the  total  results  of  all  these  studies. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

THE  Director  of  the  Town  and  Countrv^  Survey  Department 
for  the  Interchurch  World  Movement  was  Edmund  deS. 
Brunner.  He  was  likewise  the  Director  of  this  Department 
for  the  Committee  on  Social  and  Religious  Surveys. 

The  original  survey  of  Salem  County  was  conducted  under  the 
Rev.  George  W.  Lawrence,  State  Survey  Supervisor  of  the  Inter- 
church World  Movement.  Associated  with  him  was  a  county  sur- 
vey team  composed  of  the  Rev.  C.  Rollin  Smith,  Pennsville,  leader ; 
the  Rev.  Erie  Oesterle,  Ouinton;  the  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Hicks,  Allo- 
way,  and  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Thompson,  Woodstown;  all  of  these  did 
active  work  in  gathering  the  data  on  the  blanks  provided.  Their 
work  was  done  during  the  years  1919-20. 

The  field  workers  of  the  Committee  on  Social  and  Religious 
Surveys  for  Salem  County  were  Mr.  B.  Y.  Landis,  Miss  H.  O. 
Belknap,  Miss  M.  L.  Patton  and  Miss  E.  R.  Hooker.  During  the 
spring  of  1921,  they  verified  the  results  of  the  survey-work  pre- 
viously done  and  secured  additional  information,  not  included  in 
the  original  study. 

Valuable  help  was  given  by  the  Home  Missions  Council,  and 
the  Council  of  Women  for  Home  IMissions  through  their  sub- 
Committee  on  Town  and  Country  and  also  by  a  Committee 
appointed  jointly  by  the  Home  Missions  Council  and  the  Federal 
Council  for  the  purpose  of  cooperating  with  the  Committee  on 
Social  and  Religious  Surveys  in  endeavoring  to  translate  the  results 
of  the  survey  into  action.  The  members  of  this  Joint  Committee  on 
Utilizing  Surveys  are : 

Representing  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches 
Anna  Clark  C.  N.  Lathrop 

Roy  B.  Guild  U.  L.  Mackey 

A.  E.  Holt  A.  E.  Roberts 

F.  Ernest  Johnson  Fred  B.  Smith 

Charles  E.  Schaeffer 


Representing  the  Home  Missions  Council  and  the  Council  of  Women 

for  Home  Missions 
Alfred  W.  Anthony  Rolvix  Harlan 

Mrs.  Fred  S.  Bennett  R.  A.  Hutchison 

C.  A.  Brooks  Florence  E.  Quinlan 

C.  E.  Burton  W.  P.  Shriver 

A.  E.  Cory  Paul  L.  Vogt 

David  D.  Forsyth  Warren  H.  Wilson 


VI 


CONTENTS 

PART  I :    A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  FIELD 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I     Introducing  Salem  County,  New  Jersey     ...  13 

II     Economic  Characteristics 16 

III  The  Making  of  a  Community 22 

IV  Social  Characteristics 28 

PART  II :    RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AND  INSTITUTIONS 

V     The  Situation  in  General 37 

VI     Equipment  and  Finance 43 

VII     The  Minister 49 

VIII     Membership .  54 

IX     Organization  and  Program 63 

X     "The  Par  Standard" 68 

XI     Negro  Church  Life 70 

XII     Non-Protestant   Churches 75 

PART  III:  CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Conclusions  and  Recomimendations 81 

Appendix 91 


vu 


ILLUSTRATIONS,  MAPS  AND  CHARTS 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


School  at  Woodstown — "The  Finest  in  South  Jersey"  15 

The   Creamery,    Sharptown 19 

Community  Hall,  Norma 26 

Playground  of  the  Woodstown  Public  School     ...  29 

Group  of  Protestant  Churches 44 

"Moving  Horse-Sheds  Day,"  Pedricktown,  Feb.  15,  1921  66 

Pastor  and  Laymen  Prepare  the  Lawn  for  a  Playground  66 

School  for  Colored  Children,  South  Woodstown  ...  71 

Jewish    Synagogues 76 

MAPS 

I     Salem  County,  N.  J.,  White  Churches  and  Com- 
munities       38-39 

II    Woodstown,    N.    J 40 

III  Auburn    Community,    N.    J 61 

IV  Salem  County,  N.  J.,  Colored  Churches  and  Com- 

munities       72 

CHARTS 

I     Effect  of  System  in  Church  Finance  Upon  per 

Capita  Giving 45 

II     How  the  Church  Dollar  is  Raised 46 

III     How  THE  Church  Dollar  is  Expended  ....  47 
IV    Twenty-Eight    Protestant    Churches    Classified 

According  to  Residence  of  Ministers  ...  51 

V     Salary  Scale  of  the  24  Ministers 51 

VI     Number  of  Pastorates  Over  Ten-Year  Period  .      .  52 

VII     Church  Members  in  Population  .           ....  54 

VIII     Residence  and  Activity  of  Church  Members  .      .  55 

IX     Relation  of  Size  of  Church  Membership  to  Gain  57 

X    The  Number  of  Churches  Gaining  and  Losing  in 

One-Year   Period 5^ 

ix 


I 

A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  FIELD 


A  CHURCH   AND   COMMUNITY 

SURVEY  OF   SALEM  COUNTY, 

NEW  JERSEY 

Chapter  I 
INTRODUCING    SALEM    COUNTY,    NEW    JERSEY 

SALEM  County,  within  its  very  irregular  outline,  comprises 
a  total  area  of  343  square  miles.  Its  eastern  boundary  is 
the  Delaware  River  where  that  stream  widens  into  the  Bay. 
The  surface  of  the  land  is  flat  or  gently  rolling,  the  greatest  eleva- 
tion being  not  more  than  fifty  feet  above  sea-level.  There  is  much 
uninhabited  and  unimproved  land  along  the  Delaware  River  on 
account  of  the  tide  marshes.  Here  the  farmers  have  formed  Meadow 
Companies  for  building  dykes  in  order  to  protect  their  fields.  There 
are  no  steep  hillsides,  boulders,  or  stony  fields  within  the  county. 
Generally  speaking,  the  soil  is  fertile,  easily  worked,  deep  and  lasting. 
Light  loams  and  a  heavier  loam,  with  some  clay  in  the  soil  or  sub- 
soil, predominate.  Banked  meadows,  suitable  for  pasture,  are  plenti- 
ful. With  proper  treatment,  there  are  more  than  20,000  acres  of 
land  in  the  county  that  could  be  reclaimed. 

The  great  markets  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  are  easily 
accessible  to  the  county  and  to  them  it  sends  its  produce.  Salem 
County  may  be  taken,  therefore,  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  great  belt 
of  land  in  that  area  which  supplies  the  leading  cities  of  the  Middle 
Atlantic  seaboard  with  food. 

HISTORICAL 

The  first  Europeans  to  disturb  tlie  peace  of  the  Lenni  Lenape 
tribes  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Delaware  River,  within  the  area 
now  called  Salem  County,  were  a  small  number  of  Swedes  who  came 
in  1638,  arriving  at  Church  Landing,  where  St.  George's,  a  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  now  stands.  Some  Dutch  also  settled  shortly 
afterward  on  this  point  of  the  Delaware  River,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  both  nationalities  lived  together  in  absolute  harmony.  Both 
w'ere  of  practically  the  same  religious  faith.     St.  George's  was  then 

13 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

a  Lutheran  Church.  In  1640  there  was  a  small  infiltration  of  Puritan 
English  from  the  New  Haven  Colony,  and,  shortly  after,  a  small 
group  of  French  Huguenots,  and  another  of  Finns,  were  added  to  the 
population.  The  Friends  of  Fen  wick's  Colony,  who  sought  the 
shores  of  America  even  before  Penn's  schemes  resulted  in  the 
settlement  of  Philadelphia,  came  in  1765.  A  German  element  was 
added  to  the  population  of  the  county  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

From  a  very  early  date  there  have  been  negroes  in  Salem  County. 
In  fact,  despite  the  opposition  of  the  Friends,  slavery  persisted 
until  1829.  Probably  there  is  none  of  the  original  negro  blood  in  the 
county  at  present.  Tuberculosis  has  made  heavy  inroads ;  and  it 
is  only  migration  from  the  South  which  has  kept  the  negro  population 
from  losing  in  numbers.  The  negroes  are  farm  owners  and  operators 
in  the  vicinity  of  Marshalltown,  and  also  at  Fenwick,  Yorktown  and 
Woodstown.  They  are  not  so  prosperous  as  the  wdiite  farmers, 
but  some  allowance  must  be  made  for  their  lack  of  educational  and 
other  opportunities.  The  first  Jewish  settlers  arrived  in  1882. 
After  1895,  they  c?,me  in  fairly  large  numbers  from  Russia  as  part 
of  a  larger  immigration  which  began  about  that  year,  through  the 
influence  of  Jewish  settlement  societies  in  New  York,  and  with  the 
aid  of  the  Baron  de  Hirsch  Fund.  The  promoters  of  the  original 
Hebrew  colony,  which  is  located  near  Norma,  placed  one  or  two 
very  successful  farmers  in  the  Jewish  community  for  demonstra- 
tion purposes.  Here  they  made  remarkable  progress  in  wresting  a 
living  from  poor  land. 

Following  the  Civil  War,  there  was  an  influx  of  Irish,  who  are  to 
be  found  largely  in  the  cities,  while  during  the  last  few  years  a 
small  number  of  Italians  and  Poles  have  taken  up  farms. 

Census  Figures 

When  its  first  census  was  taken  in  1737,  the  population  of  the 
county  was  5,888.  In  1790  the  first  Federal  census  showed  a  popu- 
lation of  10,437.  I^"*  both  instances  the  entire  population  was  listed 
as  rural.  The  following  table  gives  the  figures  for  the  last  three 
enumerations : 

1920 

Rural    17,562 

Urban    19,010 

The  great  increase  shown  in  the  figures  of  1920  is  due  to 
the  number  of  people  attracted  to  the  munition  plants  established 
in  the  Penns  Grove  region.     At  present,  the  rural  population  is 

14 


I9I0 

1900 

20,385 
6,614 

19.719 

5,811 

INTRODUCING  SALEM  COUNTY 

less  than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  total.  The  1920  census  enumerations 
of  foreign-born  inhabitants  are  not  yet  available,  and  even  when 
they  are  published,  they  will  not  show  an  urban  and  rural  division. 
In  1910  there  were  1,206  Russian  Jews  in  the  county.  The  German 
element  stood  second  with  641.  Negroes  numbered  3,324.  The 
rural  population  is  remarkably  stable.  In  a  large  majority  of  com- 
munities over  eighty  per  cent  of  the  population  has  been  resident 
for  more  than  fifteen  years ;  while  in  about  one-half  of  the  com- 


SCHOOL   AT   WOODSTOWN —  THE   FINEST   IN    SOUTH    JERSEY 

munities,  the  percentage  is  ninety  or  more.  In  fact,  within  recent 
years,  there  has  been  very  little  "new  blood"  added  to  the  rural 
population  of  the  county. 

Government 

Salem  County  is  governed  by  a  Board  of  Freeholders  composed 
of  representatives  from  the  various  townships,  with  whom  are  asso- 
ciated the  usual  officers,  such  as  County  Treasurer,  Assessor,  Health 
Officer,  and  others.  There  are  four  incorporated  towns  in  the 
county,  but  of  these  the  city  of  Salem  and  Penns  Grove  have  a 
population  of  over  5,000  and  are  not  included,  therefore,  in  this 
intensive  survey.  The  other  two  incorporated  towns  are  Elmer,  with 
a  population  of  2,800,  and  Woodstown,  with  a  population  of  2,501. 


15 


T 


Chapter  II 

ECONOMIC    CHARACTERISTICS 

HE  economic  life  of  Salem  County  may  be  discussed  around 
three  general  phases — agriculture,  industry  and  transporta- 
tion. 

AGRICULTURE 


The  chief  agricultural  products  are  garden  vegetables,  small 
fruits,  tomatoes  and  potatoes,  and  in  addition  to  these,  there  are 
staple  crops,  such  as  corn,  wheat  and  hay.  Dairying  also  is  carried 
on  in  some  sections  of  the  county.  The  1920  Federal  census  figures 
show  1,802  farms.  This  is  a  decrease  of  a  little  more  than  ten  per 
cent,  in  twenty  years.  The  County  Agricultural  Agent  lists  1,505 
farms,  his  classification  being  more  rigid  than  that  of  the  Govern- 
ment, as  to  what  constitutes  a  "farm". 

Crops  and  Values 

In  1910  the  average  value  of  farm  crops  and  animal  products 
was  $2,265  P^r  farm.  In  1920,  exclusive  of  animals  slaughtered,  it 
was  $5,061  per  farm — an  increase  of  nearly  one  hundred  per  cent. 
The  1920  crop  figures,  however,  show  a  decrease  in  yield  compared 
with  those  of  1920,  averaging  a  little  more  than  ten  per  cent. 

Principal  Acres  Quantity  Yield 

Crops  Year  Harvested  Harvested  Per  Acre 

Corn   1920  23,485  790.739  bu.  33-6 

1910  24,940  939,775     "  37-7 

Wheat    1920  10,401  165,007     "  15.9 

1910  8.538  166,538    "  19.5 

Hay    1920  32,351                 67,149  tons  2.08 

1910  26,486                41,067    "  1.55 

Potatoes    1920  9,033  1,032,926  bu.  1 14.35 

1910  10,111  1,303,088     "  128.87 

In  commenting  on  these  figures,  the  County  Agricultural  Agent 
says :  "These  figures  are  the  only  ones  we  actually  have  regarding 
crop  production  in  this  county.  However,  I  am  very  well  satisfied 
that  they  are  too  small  and  that  there  has  been  no  such  decrease  in 
yields.  I  would  say  that  the  yield  of  corn  in  this  county  is  above 
thirty-three  bushels,  (the  figure  given  by  the  1920  census).     From 

16 


ECONOMIC  CHARACTERISTICS 

sixty-five  to  seventy  would  come  nearer  to  the  average  production 
of  corn  in  this  county.  Wheat,  last  year,  averaged  from  twenty- 
seven  to  thirty-three  bushels  to  the  acre  in  this  vicinity  and  undoubt- 
edly the  average  for  a  number  of  years  would  be  around  twenty-five 
bushels.  Potatoes  in  1920  averaged  in  this  county  around  210 
bushels,  and  that  is  a  pretty  good  average  for  this  section.  The 
census  figures  on  hay  are  more  nearly  correct  than  any  of  them." 

In  19 10,  sixty  per  cent  of  the  farm-owners  had  mortgages  on 
their  property.  The  total  mortgage-debt  was  $1,198,802,  or  forty- 
four  and  nine-tenths  per  cent  of  the  total  value  of  the  land  and 
buildings  in  the  county.     The  1920  figures  are  not  yet  available. 

Tenancy 

Between  the  years  1900  and  1910  there  was  a  slight  decrease  in 
the  number  of  tenant-farmers.  In  1900,  forty-four  and  four-tenths 
per  cent  of  the  2,072  farms  were  operated  by  tenants,  while  in  1910, 
of  the  2,046  farms,  thirty-nine  and  nine-tenths  per  cent.  During  the 
last  census  period,  the  drop  in  tenantry  continued  markedly.  Today, 
of  the  1,802  farms,  only  a  little  more  than  one-third,  or  thirty-five 
and  five-tenths  per  cent,  are  in  the  hands  of  tenants.  The  reason 
for  this  decrease  is  difficult  to  determine.  Probably  the  high  wages 
paid  by  the  munition  plants  within  the  county  during  the  war,  of 
which  the  farmers  took  advantage  during  their  slack  season,  may 
account  for  it  in  some  measure.  The  share  system  of  paying  rent 
prevails  throughout  the  county.  The  tenant-farmer's  note  is  good 
at  the  banks;  indeed,  the  banks  make  no  discrimination  between 
tenant  and  owner.  The  term  of  leasing  is  that  which  prevails 
generally  in  America — one  year  only.  While  the  system  is  usually 
regarded  as  unprofitable  and  out  of  date,  yet  in  Salem  County  tenants 
sometimes  stay  on  the  same  farm  all  their  lives.  In  some  instances, 
grandsons  of  original  owners  are  leasing  the  same  farms  to  grand- 
sons of  original  tenants. 

Fartn  Labor 

In  any  county  having  the  type  of  agriculture  that  predominates 
in  Salem,  there  is  special  need  of  labor  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year.  To  meet  this  need,  various  sources  of  supply  are  utilized.  The 
odd-job  men  of  the  towns  are  often  employed,  and  high  school  boys 
are  used.  Apart  from  these  sources,  city  employment  agencies 
furnish  the  bulk  of  help.  Some  farms  have  extra  houses  in  order 
to  accomodate  the  help  that  is  necessary  during  the  height  of  the 
season.     On  other  farms,  employees  live  in  tents,  sheds  or  even 

17 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

corn  cribs.  The  help  that  comes  from  the  city  employment  agencies 
is  largely  foreign-speaking,  and  is  used  more  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  county  than  elsewhere.  The  influx  of  several  hundred  for- 
eigners has  had  no  appreciable  effect  on  social  life  or  morals.  The 
farmers  who  were  interviewed,  spoke  in  high  terms  of  the  conduct 
of  the  help,  but  added  that  it  was  well  known  to  be  "unhealthy  for 
anyone  to  stay  around  who  did  not  behave".  Negroes  from  the 
city  of  Salem  are  also  used  to  a  certain  extent  by  farmers  during  the 
harvest  season.  At  the  time  wdien  the  original  survey  was  being 
undertaken  the  price  of  farm  labor  was  high,  soaring  to  six  dollars 
a  day  with  board  and  lodging.  Since  then,  there  has  been  a  great 
decline,  in  some  sections,  as  much  as  sixty  per  cent.  The  average 
for  the  county  in  1921  is  about  forty  dollars  per  month  "and  keep". 

Farmers'  Exchange 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  agricultural  situation 
in  Salem  County  is  the  South  Jersey  Farmers'  Exchange,  with  head- 
quarters in  Woodstown.  Originally  the  organization  was  coopera- 
tive in  its  nature,  but  in  later  years  has  taken  on  the  nature  of  a  pri- 
vate corporation.  It  has  several  branches  both  in  Salem  and  in 
neighboring  counties.  The  Exchange  loads  potatoes  and  ships  fer- 
tilizer to  any  railroad  station  in  South  Jersey.  Nine  hundred  farmers 
are  shareholders  in  the  organization,  and  transact  .business  with  it. 
It  is  capitalized  at  $125,000  with  a  par  value  of  $5.00  per  share.  In 
1920,  despite  the  drop  in  price  of  farm  products,  the  Exchange  was 
able  to  pay  its  usual  dividends  and  add  to  its  surplus  which  now 
amounts  to  nearly  $150,000.  In  1920,  it  handled  more  than  10,000 
tons  of  fertilizer,  feeds  and  seeds.  It  bought  from  the  shareholders 
and  sold  for  them  10,000  bushels  of  corn,  twenty  carloads  of  wheat, 
1,000  carloads  of  potatoes,  and  149  carloads  of  tomatoes  during 
the  last  year. 

Farm  Bureau 

No  account  of  the  agriculture  of  Salem  County  would  be  com- 
plete without  a  word  concerning  the  agent  of  the  Farm  Bureau. 
The  farmers  were  conservative  and  did  not  secure  a  county  agent 
as  early  as  some  of  their  neighbors,  but  they  have  one  now  and  are 
working  well  with  him.  The  present  agent  is  progressive  and  tire- 
less. His  report  for  last  year  shows  two  dozen  demonstrations  of 
various  kinds  held,  more  than  5,000  people  reached  through  meetings, 
1,340  visits  made  to  farmers,  and  160  articles  placed  in  the  papers 
.of  the  county.    These  are  but  a  few  items  from  the  records  of  the 

18 


ECONOMIC  CHARACTERISTICS 

Farm  Bureau  office.  The  agent  has  secured  hetter  hreeding  stock 
among  the  owners  of  Holstein  cattle;  he  has  helped  in  planting 
several  new  orchards,  and  in  combating  the  potato  scab.  Farm 
demonstration  work  in  the  county  has  been  put  on  a  permanent 
basis.  Large  returns  on  his  work  can  be  shown  in  dollars  and 
cents. 

There  is  hearty  cooperation  between  the  County  Agent  and  the 
teachers  of  agriculture  at  Woodstown  and  Salem  high  schools. 
Short  courses  for  farmers  have  been  conducted  at  both  places,  and 
also  at  Harmersville.     Last  year,  the  county  had  seventy-five  boys 


THE  CREAMERY,   SHARPTOWN 


enrolled  in  livestock  clubs  and  fifty-nine  girls  in  canning  and  garden 
clubs.  The  work  is  supervised  by  the  County  Board  of  Agriculture, 
the  successor  of  the  old  Salem  County  Agricultural  Society,  founded 
in  1850,  and  devoted  chiefly  to  the  holding  of  fairs. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  in  every  communit\-  in  the  county,  the 
majority  of  those  interviewed  by  the  survey  workers  declared  that 
there  was  cordial  cooperation  between  farmers  and  business  men 
of  the  hamlet  and  open  country  and  those  in  the  town  centers.  Yet 
full  advantage  has  not  been  taken  of  this  feeling  of  good-will. 

For  example,  most  of  the  produce  and  perishable  farm  products 
used  in  Salem  and  Penns  Grove  reaches  these  cities  through  com- 
mission men  from  Philadelphia  and  Camden.  Very  little  comes  direct 
from  the  farmers  of  Salem  County.  Even  hotels  and  restaurants 
use  more  store  vegetables  than  they  do  produce  bought  direct  from 
the  farm.    This  method  of  shipping  produce  from  the  farms  of  the 

19 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

county  to  the  tables  of  its  towns  by  way  of  a  sixty-mile  detour 
through  Philadelphia  is  most  wasteful.  It  would  appear  that  the 
good  feeling  between  town  and  country  might  be  so  utilized  as  to 
bring  about  a  more  effective  cooperation,  thereby  supplying  the 
city  with  vegetables  direct  from  the  country. 

INDUSTRY 

The  chief  industry  of  the  county  is  the  canning  of  agricultural 
products  such  as  tomatoes,  garden  vegetables  and  small  fruits. 
There  are  eighteen  canneries  in  the  county,  and  with  the  exception 
of  two,  their  operation  is  entirely  seasonal.  The  total  number 
of  workers  employed  in  these  canneries  is  2,261 ;  the  number  working 
in  individual  canneries  ranging  from  60  to  554.  In  a  number  of 
communities,  the  chief  work  in  these  canneries  is  performed  by  the 
-farmers'  wives,  and  that  despite  the  fact  that  it  must  be  done  when 
the  work  on  the  farm  is  at  its  height. 

Glass-sand  is  found  in  certain  sections  of  the  county  and  there  is 
a  glass  factory  in  the  city  of  Salem.  Quantities  of  building-sand  and 
gravel  furnish  labor  for  a  large  number  of  people.  Those  engaged 
in  non-agricultural  pursuits  are  employed  in  stores,  grist-mills, 
slaughter-houses,  creameries,  ice-cream  factories,  a  shirt-waist 
factory  and  a  cold-storage  plant.  A  small  number  secure  all,  or 
part  of  their  income,  from  fishing. 

There  are  six  banks  in  Salem  County.  Four  Building  and  Loan 
Associations  have  been  organized,  all  of  which  have  some  farmers 
as  borrowers.  The  total  membership  of  the  four  associations  in  June, 
1919,  was  1,151,  and  the  number  of  borrowers,  357.  At  that  time 
the  assets  in  loans  on  mortgages  amounted  to  $528,093,  and  the 
total  amount  of  new  loans  for  the  year  preceding  was  $76,700. 

TRANSPORTATION 

Three  branches  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  cross  Salem  County 
at  various  points.  Connections  between  Salem  and  Philadelphia  are 
good.  Elmer,  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  county,  is  on  the  line  which 
runs  from  Bridgeton  and  Glassboro,  making  Camden  or  Atlantic 
City  easily  accessible.  There  is  one  trolley  line  running  from  Penns 
Grove  to  Salem,  and  the  former  is  connected  by  ferry  with  Wilming- 
ton and  by  boat-line  with  Philadelphia.  Salem,  Alloway  and  Oldham 
Creeks  furnish  several  miles  of  navigable  waters  for  light-draught 
boats,  but  the  effect  of  the  tides  together  with  the  shallowness  and 
the  winding  nature  of  these  streams,  make  it  impossible  for  water 

20 


ECONOMIC  CHARACTERISTICS 

transportation  to  compete   with  the  railroads   in  either   freight  or 
passenger  traffic. 

The  pubhc  roads  of  Salem  County  are  financed  by  township, 
county  and  state  funds.  There  are,  at  least,  1,500  miles  of  road 
in  the  entire  county,  but  114  miles  constitute  the  length  of  the  com- 
bined state  and  county  roads,  leaving  approximately  1,400  miles  of 
township  roads.  For  the  most  part  these  roads  are  good.  The 
extensive  use  of  automobiles  and  trucks  for  the  transportation  of 
produce  to  shipping-points  has  made  good  roads  a  necessity,  while 
the  level  surface  of  the  land  makes  it  easy  to  maintain  them.  In 
those  sections  of  the  county  where  the  soil  is  unproductive  and  where 
the  population  has  decreased,  the  poorest  roads  are  to  be  found.  The 
labor  of  prisoners  is  utilized  in  the  construction  of  roads.  Oyster 
shells  have  been  used  with  much  success  as  material  for  road  im- 
provement. In  1920,  Salem  County  spent  $200,000  on  roads,  $60,000 
of  which  was  for  construction  and  the  balance  for  repair.  One-half 
of  this  amount  was  received  from  the  State  from  the  Motor  and 
Vehicle  Fund. 


21 


Chapter  III 
THE  MAKING  OF  A  COMMUNITY 

A  GREAT  deal  has  been  written  in  recent  years  about  com- 
munity consciousness.  Numerous  efforts  have  also  been 
made  to  define  the  word  "community".  In  certain  states 
legislatures  have  granted  communities  the  right  to  incorporate  for 
purposes  which,  in  the  past,  were  open  only  to  incorporated  towns 
or  cities.  We  have  seen  the  creation  of  fire  districts,  lighting  dis- 
tricts, community  welfare  districts,  and  a  number  of  others,  deter- 
mined by  lines  of  community  consciousness  and  expressing  com- 
munity needs  or  interests.  All  of  this  points  to  the  possibility  of 
the  emergence  of  a  new  political  unit  in  American  life. 

Within  the  bounds  of  some  one  community  the  great  majority 
of  rural  Americans  live,  move  and  have  their  being.  Life  is  here 
reduced  to  its  simplest  terms.  But  it  is  life — life  with  its  jealousies 
and  friendships,  its  joys  and  sorrows.  There  is  buying  and  selling, 
cooperation  and  competition,  success  and  failure.  The  individuals 
of  that  cluster  of  homes  which  form  a  community  find,  in  common 
with  their  immediate  neighbors,  their  most  absorbing  tasks  and 
interests  within  its  borders.  It  is  this  community  interest  which 
creates  the  ties  that  bind  individuals  together  in  community  life. 
Whether  the  interests  be  few  or  many,  they  make  up  the  life  of 
the  community.  This  life  may  center  around  a  school,  a  grange, 
a  hardware  or  seed  store,  a  church  or  a  group  of  these  or  other 
social  or  economic  institutions.  Thus  we  have  come  to  a  definition 
of  community  life  as  "that  aggregation  of  people  the  majority  of 
whose  local  interests  have  a  common  center." 

It  is  possible  to  discover  and  to  define  the  geographical  boundaries 
of  the  varied  interests  which  center  in  some  one  locality.  This 
can  be  done  by  measuring  the  extent  of  the  reach  or  pull  of  any 
given  institution  along  every  road  which  leads  to  it.  In  this  way 
the  boundaries  of  school,  business,  religion,  social  enterprises,  and 
other  recognized  phases  of  life,  may  be  discovered  and  mapped. 

The  tendency  has  been  to  consider  the  community  as  a  trade 
area  centered  in  some  town.  In  this  survey  it  has  not  been  found 
possible   to   follow   this   practice   as   the   sole   basis   of   community 

22 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  COMMUNITY 

classification  inasmucli  as  the  entire  county  under  consideration  lies, 
within  the  larger  trade  area  of  Philadelphia,  and  furthermore,  he- 
cause  within  the  county,  communities  are  so  close  together  that  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  overlapping  from  the  standpoint  of  trade  and 
business.  The  community  boundaries,  therefore,  have  been  drawn 
in  the  light  of  social  inlluences  as  determined  by  the  location  of 
schools,  churches  and  recreational  facilities. 

COMMUNITIES 

The  special  consideration  given  in  this  survey  to  social  factors' 
has  made  it  practically  necessary  to  class  as  a  community  any  village 
or  town  with  its  surrounding  country  which  has  developed  something 
of  a  self-conscious  feeling  or  which  belongs  in  no  definite  sense  to 
any  nearby  community.  Thus  delimited,  there  are  fifteen  rural 
communities  in  Salem  County,  not  including  the  rural  section  of  the 
city  of  Salem  or  the  similar  section  belonging  to  Penns  Grove. 
The  names  and  populations  of  these  communities  are  as  follows: 

Coniniuni'.y                                                               Total  Population 

1.  Alloway    600 

2.  Auburn    289 

3.  Canton    350 

4.  Centerton    250 

5.  Daretown     1,200 

6.  Elmer    2,800 

7.  Hancock's  Bridge   363 

8.  Harmersville    250 

9.  iMonroeviile    210 

10.  Norma    6co 

11.  Pedricktown    1,039 

12.  Pennsville    650 

13.  Quinton   50^ 

14.  Sharptown    750 

15.  Woodstown    -.50 ' 

Salem    (rural)    3.09!^ 

Penns  Grove   (rural )     744 

Neutral  Territory 1,368 

Total     17,562 

There  are  also  some  smaller  centers  of  population  neither  so 
strong  nor  so  large  as  communities,  but  which  are  locally  recognized, 
by  name  at  least,  such  as  Yorktown,  rapidly  becoming  a  colored 
neighborhood,  Aldine,  Cohansey  and  Friesburg..  All  these  are 
very  small  settlements  and  their  inhabitants  go  elsewhere  for  their 
social  life  and  trade.  They  are  so  situated  that  their  relation  to  the 
several  large  communities  that  surround  them  renders  it  impossible 
for  them  to  develop  a  strong  community  consciousness. 

It  is  not  feasible  to  set  forth  in  detail  the  facts  covered  by  the 

23 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

survey  for  each  separate  community.  The  table  on  pages  34-5  will 
give,  however,  in  every  instance,  the  factors  which  have  entered 
into  the  life  of  the  respective  communities  and  with  the  exception  of 
the  schools,  which  exist  in  every  community,  will  set  forth  just  what 
institutions  and  agencies  serve  it.  Varying  in  size  as  they  do,  these 
communities  deserve  the  classification  given  to  them,  for  although 
they  have  some  things  in  common,  as  the  table  shows,  other  features 
are  distinctive. 

Daretozvn 

Daretown  may  be  selected  as  an  example  of  a  prosperous 
community  in  the  potato-growing  region.  In  cooperation  with  a 
large  and  effective  home  and  school  league,  its  school  is  rapidly  be- 
coming a  real  center  of  community  life.  Nearly  ninety  per  cent  of 
the  people  live  in  the  open  country,  but  come  to  Daretown  for  trade 
and  shipping.  The  church  situation  is  probably  as  well  taken  care  of 
here  as  anywhere  in  the  county.  Both  churches  have  abandoned  their 
original  buildings  and  have  moved  into  substantial  edifices. 

Elmer 

This  is  the  predominant  community  in  the  eastern  section  of 
the  county.  While  many  young  people  have  left  the  community,  the 
village  itself  seems  to  be  holding  its  own.  There  are  signs  of  a  stirring 
community  life.  One  evidence  is  a  park  project,  in  which  village  and 
open  country  are  uniting  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  success.  Lodges 
are  active,  and  a  community  athletic  association  supports  a  baseball 
team  and  furnishes  other  amusements  during  the  summer.  The 
Grange  is  strong,  as  are  the  majority  of  the  churches,  one  of  which, 
the  Methodist  church  at  Union  Grove,  has  a  particularly  progressive 
program  including  a  Boy  Scout  troop,  baseball  and  basketball  teams 
and  a  literary  society. 

Pedricktown 

Pedricktown  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  the  trucking  communities 
of  which  it  is  the  largest,  having  a  population  of  1,039.  Trucking 
crops  call  for  a  considerable  amount  of  seasonal  labor  and  whole 
families  of  foreigners  are  imported  when  necessary.  The  community 
is  a  progressive  one.  Its  social  activities  include  a  parent-teachers' 
association,  a  dairy  organization,  a  branch  of  the  County  Farm 
Bureau  and  a  Boy  Scout  troop.  Lunches  are  provided  for  the  school 
children  who  are  unable  to  return  to  their  homes  during  the  noon 
hour.    The  Parent-Teachers'  Association  supplies  the  equipment  for 

24 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  COMMUNITY 

this  service  and  has  also  given  the  school  a  victrola  and  a  library.  The 
two  churches  are  active  and  one  of  them  is  making  some  impression 
on  the  Italian  population,  a  few  Italian  children  attending  its  Sunday 
school.  This  is  the  only  church  in  the  county  reporting  any  "New 
Americans"  in  its  church  services. 

Peniisville 

More  than  any  other  community  m  Salem  County  Pennsville 
has  felt  the  effect  of  the  war,  since  it  lies  near  the  numerous  munition 
plants  that  sprang  up  along  the  Delaware  River  from  Carney's 
Point  to  Penns  Grove.  Of  the  many  foreigners  who  came  into  the 
community  during  the  war  there  remain  two  hundred  Greeks  and 
forty  Italians,  many  of  whom  are  employed  in  the  dye  works  near 
Pennsville,  which  belong  to  the  Dupont  Company  and  under  normal 
conditions  employ  six  hundred  hands. 

Woodstoztm 

This  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  progressive  communities  in 
the  entire  county.  Many  worthwhile  county- wide  projects  have  been 
initiated  here.  It  has  the  finest  schools  in  the  county;  indeed,  its 
consolidated  school  is  one  of  the  best  in  New  Jersey.  It  resulted 
from  the  combining  of  nine  grade  schools.  The  building  is  a  splendid 
structure  with  splendid  equipment,  one  which  if  erected  today  would 
cost  $300,000.  The  school  comprises  twelve  grades  and  a  kinder- 
garten. Pupils  who  come  from  districts  lying  outside  the  corporate 
limits  of  Woodstown  have  their  transportation  paid.  This  arrange- 
ment includes  even  those  who  attend  the  kindergarten.  The  school 
has  departments  of  agriculture  and  domestic  science,  a  g}-mnasium 
and  full  equipment  of  playgrounds  apparatus  and  a  campus  of  seven 
acres.  Here,  too,  is  located  the  central  office  of  the  South  Jersey 
Farmers'  Exchange.  The  school,  chamber  of  commerce  and  the 
churches  have  all  helped  to  develop  a  spirit  of  cooperation  which  is 
maintained  despite  the  fact  that  there  are  occasionally  sharp  differ- 
ences of  opinion  between  groups  of  people  in  the  village.  There  are 
four  organized  Protestant  churches,  all  doing  good  work,  and  a  very 
much  alive  Roman  Catholic  church. 

The  smaller  communities  share,  to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree, 
the  assets  and  life  that  have  been  described  in  the  communities  just 
considered.  Each  in  its  own  way  is  peculiar  to  itself.  Hanncrsfille^ 
is  known  for  its  large  and  progressive  grange.  .iHbuni  is  a  relic  of 
old  days,  a  community  that  has  retrograded  economically  since  the 
railroad   supplanted    water   routes   as   a   means   of   transportation. 

25 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

Alloway  is  in  the  center  of  a  belt  of  soil  that  is  below  the  average 
for  the  county,  and  its  social,  economic  and  religious  life  shows 
the  efifect  of  this  handicap.  Monroemllc  is  distinguished  by  having 
the  largest  parent-teachers'  association  of  any  community  within  the 
county.  Many  of  tliese  communities  have  a  small  industry,  such 
as  a  cannery  or  a  creamery. 

There  are  few  communities  in  the  county  that  do  not  have 
historic  associations,  many  of  them  stretching  back  to  Revolutionary 
times.  There  are  many  old  and  beautiful  homes.  The  streets  are 
usually  shaded  and  the  average  community  presents  an  attractive 


COMMUNITY    HALL,   NORMA 

and  pleasing  appearance.  The  people  of  the  county  live  and  work 
under  conditions  that  are  favorable  to  health  and  prosperity.  How 
far  they  have  progressed  along  social  and  religious  lines  may  be 
judged  from  the  data  furnished  in  the  chapters  which  follow. 

Negro  and  JczvisJi  Settlement 

■■  The  communities  in  which  the  negroes  have  settled  include 
Fenwick,  South  Woodstown  and  Marshalltown.  The  first  two  are 
close  to  Woodstown  proper  and  the  children  attend  the  grade  school 
in  South  Woodstown,  which,  in  every  way,  is  the  equal  of  the 
consolidated  school.  The  churches  and  lodges  are  the  main  centers 
of  influence  in  the  negro  communities. 

Norma  is  the  center  of  Jewish  life  in  Salem  County  and  is 
very  progressive — especially  agriculturally.  In  addition  to  the 
Jewish  synagogue  there. are  two  community  halls  in  Norma. 

,26 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  COMMUNITY 

Cities 

The  cities  of  the  county  are  Salem  and  Penns  Grove.  The  former 
is  the  county  seat  with  a  population  of  10,523  of  whom  7,435  reside 
in  the  city  itself  and  3,098  in  the  Salem  rural  community.  As  a 
county  seat  Salem  naturally  has  interests  touching  the  entire  county 
and  is  dependent  upon  the  county  for  much  of  its  influence  and 
prosperity.  Within  its  rural  community  lies  some  of  the  finest  farm 
land  in  the  county.  Southwest  of  the  city  is  Elsinboro.  Here  there 
are  popular  beaches,  and  in  summer  its  population  is  about  1,000. 
The  people  here  can  come  to  Salem  for  recreation  and  worship. 
There  have  been  Sunday  schools  in  this  township,  but  at  present 
these  are  closed.  (The  religious  situation  in  Salem  rural  community 
is  discussed  in  Part  H  of  this  survey.)  Penns  Grove  and  Carney's 
Point  are  both  "war-made"  towns.  Originally  a  fishing  and  farming 
center  with  a  long  history  and  a  small  population,  the  war  trans- 
formed this  area  into  an  industrial  beehive,  having  a  total  population 
of  between  60,000  and  70,000.  Now,  however,  the  census  gives 
Penns  Grove  a  little  over  6,000  and  the  population  of  Carney's 
Point  is  approximately  the  same.  Penns  Grove  is  incorporated 
but  Carney's  Point  is  not.  This  industrial  community  has  a  much 
smaller  tributary  rural  area  than  Salem.  Unless  the  industrial  situa- 
tion improves  the  town  must  decline.  Indeed,  Pedricktown  appears 
to  have  supplanted  it  permanently  as  a  shipping  point  for  truck  and 
other  farm  produce. 


27 


Chapter  IV 
SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

THE  social  assets  revealed  in  the  table  given  in  connection  with 
the  last  chapter,  give  an  interesting,  composite  picture  of 
life  within  the  communities  of  Salem  County.  There  are,  of 
course,  certain  social  assets  and  characteristics  which  are  county 
wide.  Among  these  must  be  classed  first  of  all  the  educational  and 
philanthropic. 

EDUCATION 

Schools 

Schools  in  Salem  County  were  first  established  by  the  Friends 
and  in  the  beginning  were  largely  supported  by  them.  At  that  time, 
they  were  nothing  but  small  log  buildings  in  which  itinerant  teachers 
taught  those  children  whose  parents  agreed  to  pay  for  the  service. 
Today,  Salem  county  has  some  of  the  finest  rural  schools  in  the 
whole  of  New  Jersey.  The  local  public  school  system  was  placed 
under  state  control  in  1816,  and  the  first  funds  were  appropriated 
for  public  schools  in  that  year. 

In  1883,  there  were  seventy-one  elementary  schools  in  the  county. 
By  the  end  of  1920,  there  were  only  fifty-one.  The  County  Superin- 
tendent's map  shows  thirty-one  points  at  which  schools  have  been 
discontinued  as  a  result  of  the  movement  for  consolidation.  However, 
some  sections  of  the  county  are  very  slow  to  move  in  this  direction. 
There  is  one  township  which  has  as  many  graded  schools  today  as  it 
had  in  1883.  While  the  "helping  teacher"  is  a  big  factor  in  improving 
the  rural  schools,  the  entire  county  faces  the  problem  of  a  rural  teach- 
ing force  which  is  very  much  underpaid.  The  study  of  agriculture 
has  not  yet  found  its  way  into  the  grade  schools,  even  in  the  more 
progressive  townships,  but  there  are  such  courses  in  the  high  schools 
at  Salem  and  Woodstown.  The  newer  school  buildings  are  com- 
modious and  modern  in  architecture,  construction  and  equipment. 

In  New  Jersey,  pupils  are  transported  comparatively  long  dis- 
tances to  the  high  schools.  Pupils  in  Salem  County,  besides  enrolling 
at  Penns  Grove,  Salem  and  Woodstown,  go  also  to  Bridgeton, 
Glassboro  and  Swedesboro ;   the  three  latter  places  being  outside  of 

28 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

the  county.  School  statistics  for  town  and  country  districts  are  not 
available  separately,  but  the  following  figures  will  give  some  idea 
of  the  amount  of  investment  and  the  work  done  in  the  schools  of 
Salem  County: 

The  total  expenditures  for  the  year  1919-20  was  $323,283.24. 
The  average  cost  per  pupil  was  $43.65.  The  teachers  employed 
include  twenty-five  men  and  two  hundred  and  fourteen  women. 
Of  these,  thirty-two  are  college  graduates,  while  eighty-eight  are 
graduates  of  normal  schools.  At  the  end  of  1920,  the  total  valuation 
of  school  property,  including  land  and  buildings,  was  $644,590.    This 


PLAYGROUND  OF   THE   WOODSTOWN   PUBLIC   SCHOOL 


figure  does  not  include  the  value  of  a  new  school  then  in  course  of 
construction  at  Daretown. 

Libraries 

There  are  libraries  in  all  of  the  incorporated  towns.  There  are 
also  ten  traveling  libraries,  controlled  by  the  state  commission,  and 
located  largely  in  rural  communities.  The  commission  reports  that 
there  were  thirteen  requests  for  traveling  libraries  during  1920 
which  it  had  not  been  able  to  fill  for  lack  of  funds.  The  "helping 
teacher''  who  travels  the  county,  assisting  local  teachers  in  various 
ways  in  Salem  County,  has  two  traveling  libraries  which  she  places 
in  rural  schools. 

Newspapers 

Philadelphia  newspapers  circulate  largely  throughout  the  county. 
There  are,  however,  five  local  papers,  two  published  in  Salem,  one 
each  in  Penns  Grove,  Woodstown  and  Elmer.  These  are  weekly 
publications  and  naturally  specialize  in  local  news.  Most  of  them, 
however,  are  ready  to  give  space  to  matters  of  public  concern. 

29 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J.  - 

WELFARE  WORK 

There  is  no  agency  within  the  county  that,  in  any  adequate  way, 
cares  for  the  needs  of  those  who  are  handicapped  by  economic  pres- 
sure or  retarded  development.  Individual  churches  and  lodges 
extend  their  charity  to  their  own  membership,  yet  nothing  of  a 
united  or  constructive  program  exists.  Salem  has  an  efficient  charity 
organization  and  maintains  two  public  health  nurses  who  devote 
their  time  largely  to  child-welfare.  Unfortunately  their  work  is 
limited  almost  entirely  to  the  city.  The  Dupont  Company  carries 
on  welfare  work  among  its  employees  at  Carney's  Point  and  Penns 
Grove.  The  Salem  Memorial  Hospital  erected  in  memory  of  its 
soldiers  who  fought  in  the  World  War,  was  built  in  1919  by  united 
efforts  of  both  town  and  country.  It  renders  commendable  service 
to  the  county,  but  its  restricted  resources  prevent  its  performing 
out-patient  or  social  service  work,  such  as  is  urgently  needed. 

There  are  other  facts  having  to  do  with  the  social  characteristics 
of  Salem  County  which  center  about  activities  which,  in  their  scope, 
are  limited  to  a  community.  The  statistical  facts  chosen  and  the 
comments  made  upon  them,  are  grouped  under  the  following  head- 
ings: Recreational  Life,  Social  Organizations,  Community  Spirit, 
Leadership,  and  Community  Cooperation. 

RECREATIONAL  LIFE 

The  play  life  of  any  people  reveals  much.  In  that  life  they  are 
free  from  compulsion  of  either  business  or  the  influence  of  educa- 
tional standards.  Salem  County  is  prosperous  enough  to  have  any 
type  of  recreation  it  cares  to  pay  for.  The  survey,  however,  shows 
that  insufficient  eft'ort  has  been  made  to  meet  the  need  for  non- 
commercialized  recreation,  of  a  character  to  include  all  groups  and 
both  sexes  in  the  community,  and  which  is  at  the  same  time  spon- 
taneous and  democratic.  The  recreational  situation  in  Salem  County 
is  indicated  by  the  following  table : 

Number  of  communities  in  County  15 

"            with  dance  halls  5 

"      moving  pictures    i 

"               "     pool  rooms   12 

"      bowling  alleys   i 

"     organized  athletics 4 

"      band    3 

"     orchestra    2 

other  buildings  for  recreation  7 

Despite  this  apparently  poor  showing,  there  are  possibilities  for 
a  better  recreational  program.     One  of  the  towns  has  athletic  asso- 

30 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

ciations  with  both  Sunday  and  day  schools  taking  part.  In  three 
communities  schools  are  being  used  for  recreational  activities,  while 
another  uses  a  town  hall  and  still  another  both  grange  hall  and 
school.  One  community  has  an  amusement  park  and  one  town,  in 
which  Jews  are  the  predominant  element  in  the  population,  has  two 
community  halls. 

SOCIAL  ORGANIZATIONS 

The  social  life  of  a  community  may  be  measured  roughly  by  the 
types  of  social  organization  which  it  develops.  This  phase  of  com- 
munity life  in  Salem  is  set  forth  below  :• 

Number  of  communities  in  County   15 

"              "             with    granges    4 

"               "      one  or  more  lodges  11 

"              "               "     other  organizations    8 

The  thirty  lodges  in  Salem  County  have  a  total  membership  of 
2,017.  The  other  organizations,  found  in  eight  of  the  fifteen  com- 
munities, include  four  Parent-Teachers'  Associations  or  Home 
School  Leagues,  three  troops  of  Boy  Scouts,  three  Women's  Clubs 
together  with  a  few  organizations  such  as  Literary  Societies  and  a 
Ladies'  Firemen's  Auxiliary.  The  Women's  Club  in  the  city  of 
Salem,  which  has  252  members,  enrolls  thirty  who  come  from  the 
surrounding  country. 

There  are  four  communities  in  the  county  now  taking  the  lead  in 
social  life,  and  in  which  the  schools  are  beginning  to  recognize  a 
leadership  that  is  theirs  to  assume.  These  are  Woodstown,  Norma, 
Elmer,  and  Daretown.  If  projected  plans  are  realized,  Pedricktown 
will  be  added  to  this  list  through  the  energy  and  vision  of  the 
churches  there.  None  of  these  communities,  however,  has  as  yet 
taken  any  steps  toward  coordinating  the  activities  of  its  organiza- 
tions into  a  council  which  would  be  the  servant  of  all,  and  which, 
while  allowing  freedom  of  action  to  all  that  entered  in,  would  yet 
prevent  wasted  effort. 

Salem  has  a  good  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  and  with  more  financial 
help,  the  association  could  easily  do  a  significant  piece  of  extension 
work  in  the  outlying  rural  districts,  especially  in  Mannington 
Township  and  in  the  direction  of  Hancock's  Bridge.  No  steps  in 
this  direction  have  as  yet  been  taken.  A  Chautauqua  is  held  yearly 
in  Salem  and  draws  largely  from  the  city  and  the  surrounding- 
countryside. 

In  one  community  only  is  the  church  mentioned  as  a  community 
factor  in  supplying  social  and  recreational  life.     This  is  not  to  say 

31 


SURVEY  OF  SALEAI  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

that  the  churches  are  not  attempting  to  supply  a  social  and  recrea- 
tional life,  but  it  docs  mean  that  the  community  leaders  who  were 
consulted  mentioned  it  only  once  as  a  community  factor.  In  four 
communities  the  public  schools  or  high  schools  were  cited  as  agencies 
in  supplying  recreational  facilities. 

COMMUNITY   SPIRIT 

Community  spirit  is  a  term  difficult  of  exact  definition.  Neither 
its  presence  nor  its  absence  during  an  extended  period  of  time  in 
any  one  community  is  capable  of  statistical  determination.  The 
term  is  used  in  this  survey  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  a  general 
idea  of  the  existence  of  common  aims,  of  good  will,  of  unity  of 
interests  and  of  efforts  to  achieve  desirable  ends  within  the  bound- 
aries of  a  given  community.  In  a  negative  sense,  therefore,  it  in- 
dicates the  lack  of  cohesive  elements  in  a  community. 

The  absence  of  such  a  spirit  is  due  usually  to  the  lack  of  an 
experience  calculated  to  convince  people  of  the  oneness  of  their 
interests.  Occasionally,  it  may  be  found  that  community  spirit  has 
been  killed  by  some  issue  on  which  feeling  ran  high  and  left  in  its 
wake  animosities  that  temporarily  at  least  prevented  progress.  The 
more  difficult  problem  is  with  the  former  type  of  community.  The 
survey  records  eight  communities  as  being  conscious  of  community 
spirit  and  seven  lacking  in  this  important,  if  somewhat  intangible, 
quality. 

The  activities  of  the  School,  the  Church,  Parent-Teachers' 
Association,  Farmers'  Associations  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
are  given  credit  locally  for  arousing  and  maintaining  this  conscious- 
ness of  community  weal.  These  opinions  point  to  the  kinds  of  or- 
ganizations and  institutions  which  are  making  community  spirit 
live. 

It  is  not  these  organizations,  as  such,  which  create  spirit.  It  is 
the  things  they  do.  In  one  community,  for  instance,  the  scholars 
of  the  school  under  the  leadership  of  the  Parent-Teachers'  Associa- 
tion raised  nearl}'  $2,000  in  a  single  year  for  school  equipment.  Con- 
sider how  this  effort  united  the  people !  Every  home  in  which  a 
child  lived,  who  helped,  increased  its  interest  and  stake  in  the  school. 
Every  entertainment  meant  not  only  so  much  money  raised,  but  a 
greater  contribution  of  service  and  an  enlarged  appreciation  of  the 
ability  of  the  community  to  do  something  worth  while. 

Other  commendable  manifestations  of  community  spirit  are 
found  in  the  county.  In  one  locality,  it  is  the  farmers  and  business 
men  joining  hands  in  building  a  park  in  the  village;  in  another  it  is 

33 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

the  development  of  a  good  growing,  efficient  school  or  what  another 
community  is  proud  to  call,  rightly,  "the  finest  school  in  South 
Jersey".  A  third  connnunity  is  proud  to  report  the  manifestation 
of  a  "good  spirit  all  around".  The  neatness  of  the  appearance  of  an- 
other village  is  evidence  that  there  is  a  community  spirit  which  keeps 
it    looking    better    than    the    average. 

LEADERSHIP 

In  order  to  measure  the  possibilities  of  development  in  any  com- 
munity it  is  necessary  to  know  whether  or  not  it  possesses  forward 
looking  individuals  who  are  generally  recognized  as  leaders  by  the 
people.  In  too  many  places  life  is  on  a  dead  level  and  all  Init  stagnant 
because  of  a  lack  of  leaders  who  can  keep  before  the  citizenship 
the  vision  of  worth-while  ideals,  to  be  democratically  realized  by 
community  efforts. 

In  Salem  County  thirteen  of  the  fifteen  communities  report 
leaders.  The  total  given  is  twenty-six,  farmers,  ministers  and  edu- 
cators leading  in  the  occupational  classification.  The  interest  of  these 
leaders  in  community  affairs  is  noted  in  the  economic  life  of  the 
county  as  well  as  in  efforts  toward  maintaining  better  schools  and 
effecting  closer  relationship  between  home  and  school. 


33 


Xlloway PotAton  kni)  IUir>- 

harrlown PoUton  and  I>aiO' 

Itmrr PoUlocs  and  Dairy 

MixmM-vlllr PoUloea  and  Dairy 

WiKHl«timii Polaloet  mud  Hairy 

llammrr.villr Dairy 

Atihiirn Tntrk  and  Grain 

('anion Truck  and  r>rmtn 

('rn(rrtoi) Tn^k  and  (inin 

Norma Truck  and  Crmio 

Pnlricklown Truik  and  (irain 

Prnnvvlllr Truck  and  Grmio 

(.tufaiutn Tnirk  and  Grain 

ShBTi>toim Truck  and  C.rain 

ltanaKk'%  Itri.lcr  Grain 


'rfTDC*  —  ItftUftBi 


Sitabu  Sumba  la 
n.  Il«al 
roanuaity    or  VOUo 


rcbM  la  Towa  llaalrl  la  Oprn        Rcaidcat 


Jew  .10 
Jew  50 


CouBlrr         Church        SvOdcM        RciUmI 


RvOdcM 
Pulor 


l^aai     Taadwn 


CMhtn       UUnn 


II 

RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


Chapter  V 
THE  SITUATION  IN  GENERAL 

"l^X  TITH  the  background  gained  from  the  foregoing  community 
l/V/  survey,  the  study  of  the  church  hfe  of  the  county  may  now 
be  taken  up.  Salem  County  is  rich  in  historical  tradition, 
rich  in  soil,  rich  in  this  world's  goods.  The  ease  with  which  it  has 
prospered  has  made  it  conservative,  even  lethargic,  but  today,  there 
are  stirrings  of  new  life,  signs  of  increasing  community  energy  and 
of  a  determination  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  think  in  terms  of 
social  and  mutual  well-being.  The  county  has  far  to  go  in  this  direc- 
tion, but  a  very  few  leaders  are  pointing  the  way.  This  present 
social  situation,  together  with  the  rich  heritage  of  the  past,  need^  to 
be  borne  in  mind  as  we  discuss  the  religious  situation  within  the 
county. 

The  various  groups  of  early  settlers  gave  to  the  county  the 
religious  complexion  it  now  has.  The  oldest  church,  St.  George's, 
was  founded  in  1632,  by  Swedish  Lutherans.  It  remained  Lutheran 
until  after  the  Revolution,  when  it  went  over  to  the  Church  of 
England,  now  Protestant  Episcopal.  The  Episcopalians  have  been 
represented  in  the  county  since  1725,  when  a  church  was  founded 
at  Salem  by  a  missionary. 

The  work  of  the  Friends  dates  from  the  landing  of  Fenwick's 
colony.  Meeting-houses  were  erected  in  Salem,  Woodstown  and 
Pedricktown.     The  last-named  was  abandoned  forty  }ears  ago. 

The  one  Lutheran  Church,  which  dates  from  1726.  was  estab- 
lished by  one  of  the  few  colonies  of  Germans  that  settled  in  New- 
Jersey. 

Penns  Grove  was  the  seat  of  the  first  Baptist  Church,  founded 
about  1682  by  Irish,  who  had  emigrated  with  Sir  Robert  Carr.  The 
Presbyteiians  also  began  work  in  Penns  Grove  in  1741  and  it  is 
recorded  that  they  sustained  a  vigorous  part  during  the  Revolution. 

Methodism,  now  the  largest  denomination  in  the  county,  dates 
from  1774  when  the  city  of  Salem  was  visited  by  an  itinerant 
preacher  who  held  meetings  in  the  court-house.  The  group  he 
gathered  about  him  built  the  first  Methodist  church  in  1784. 

Detailed  figures  concerning  the  religious  life  of  the  county  began 
with  the  Federal  religious  census  of   1890.     These  figures  include 

37 


COMMUNITY    AND    PARISH    MAT,    SALEM    COUNTY,    N.    J.,    I92O, 

(White   churches   and   communities) 

(See  next  page  for  a  larger  scale  map  illustrating  the  method  in  greater  detail) 


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39 


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THIS     ILLUSTRATES     THE     METHOD     USED     FOR     PORTRAYING     COMMUNITIES      AND 
PARISHES    ON    THE    COUNTY    MAP    PRECEDING. 


40 


THE  SITUATION  IN  GENERAL 

the  whole  county  and  do  not  distinguish  between  town  and  country. 
By  that  time  there  were  fifty-seven  church  organizations,  fifty-six 
church  buildings  and  7,930  members  out  of  a  population  of  25,151. 
Both  denominations  and  the  number  of  congregations  were  dis- 
tributed in  about  the  same  proportion  as  in  1920. 

The  census  of  1906  gives  a  total  of  9,117  members  of  whom  741 
were  Catholics.  During  the  next  decade  the  Catholic  membership 
nearly  trebled,  reaching  2,209,  while  the  total  church  membership 
for  the  county  rose  to  11,835.  This  last  religious  census  (that  of 
1916)  was  taken  just  about  the  time  the  industrial  development  due 
to  the  war  was  in  its  infancy.  These  figures,  it  should  be  understood, 
include  white  and  colored  denominations,  Protestant,  Jewish  and 
Catholic. 

At  present,  in  the  town  and  country  area  of  Salem  County, 
there  are  forty-one  active  and  organized  Protestant  churches ;  thirty 
for  wdiite  people  and  eleven  for  the  negroes,  who  also  have  one 
separate  colored  Sunday  school.  There  are  five  active  Jewish  syna- 
gogues ;  two  Roman  Catholic  churches,  six  separate  white  Sunday 
schools ;  three  preaching  points  of  white  Protestant  churches.  The 
data  immediately  following  deal  with  the  white  Protestant  churches. 
Separate  treatment  is  given  later  to  negro  and  non-Protestant  work. 

THE  SURVEY  OF  WHITE  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES 

As  previously  stated,  the  present  survey  docs  not  include  churches 
in  towns  which  have  a  population  of  over  5,000.  In  the  area  which 
is  covered  by  the  survey,  churches  are  classified  on  the  basis  of  their 
location  in  the  following  population  groups : 

I.  Churches  located  in  villages  of  from  250  to  2,500  inhabitants. 
Seventeen  of  the  thirty  white  Protestant  churches  in  Salem  County 
are  in  this  class. 

2.  Churches  located  in  small  hamlets  having  less  than  250  people 
or  in  the  open  country.  Of  these  there  are  thirteen.  Six  communities 
have  only  open  country  churches ;  six  have  none  of  this  variety ;  two 
have  both  village  arid  open  country  and  one  has  neither.  This  last 
community,  however,  has  two  separate  Sunday  schools. 

There  is  one  abandoned  church  building  and  organization  at 
Woodstown  belonging  to  the  orthodox  Friends.  Services  are  held 
merely  to  retain  title  to  the  building,  regular  worship  having  been 
abandoned  because  of  the  removal  of  members  and  the  consequent 
loss  of  support.  This  church  is  shown  on  the  survey  map.  A 
Methodist  Protestant  church  was  abandoned  twenty  years  ago  at 
Pedricktown,   and   an   orthodox   Friends'   meeting   at    Pedricktown 

41 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J.  ' 

was  given  up  forty  years  ago.  As  these  two  churches  form  no  part 
of  recent  developments  in  the  reHgious  Hfe  of  the  county,  they  are 
not  shown  on  the  map. 

The  Denominations  at  Work 

These  thirty  churches,  seventeen  located  in  villages,  and  thirteen 
located  in  small  hamlets  or  in  the  open  country,  are  divided  among 
the  following  denominations : 

Total  Resident 
Number  Membership 

Methodist  Episcopal i6  2,062 

Baptist   7  1,212 

Presbyterian    3  366 

Protestant  Episcopal  i  50 

Lutheran    i  220 

Friends  (Orthodox)   i  21 

Friends   (Hicksite)    i  273 

Total    30  4,204 

Periods  of  Church  Development 

Prior  to  the  year  1800,  six  churches  were  founded.  Since  that 
time,  organization  went  forward  steadily  until  1879.  The  number 
of  churches  organized  for  each  twenty -year  period  during  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  as  follows : 

1800-1819  4 

1820-1839 6 

1840-1859  5 

1860-1879  4 

Since  then  the  twenty-year  periods  show  a  slower  development. 

1880-1899   I 

1900-1919   3 

The  date  of  organization  was  not  available  for  one  church.  Thus  it  is 
seen  that  the  churches  in  Salem  County  are  for  the  most  part  of 
substantial  age. 


42 


Chapter  VI 
EQUIPMENT  AND  FINANCE. 

THE  thirty  churches  under  consideration  in  this  survey  own 
their  huildings.  Seventeen  are  of  frame,  eleven  of  l)rick,  two 
of  stone.  The  total  seating  capacity  is  10,585.  The  main 
auditoriums  of  the  churches  have  a  total  seating  capacity  of  8.820 — 
an  average  of  294 — showing  that  the  huildings  are  of  a  good  size. 
The  total  available  seating  capacity  for  all  the  churches  averages  352. 
which  indicates  that  many  of  the  churches  have  extra  rooms,  which 
can  be  used  when  necessary.  In  twenty-five  cases,  condition  of 
the  church  building  is  reported  as  good,  in  three  as  fair,  and  in  two 
as  very  good.  Two  of  the  churches  own  stereopticons  but  not  one  has 
a  moving-picture  machine.  No  church  reports  any  additional  social 
equipment.  Eleven  of  the  seventeen  village  churches  and  two 
of  the  thirteen  open  country  churches  are  lighted  by  electricity.  The 
remainder  are  lighted  as  follows :  Eight  by  oil,  six  by  gas  and  two 
by  acetylene.     For  one  church  there  is  no  report. 

The  size  of  the  church  is  indicative  of  the  program  of  work  which 
it  is  able  to  carry  on,  especially  from  the  standpoint  of  religious 
education  and  community  service.  The  size  of  the  building  is  also 
an  indication  of  the  strength  of  the  congregation.     In  Salem  County 

Seven  of  the  churches  are  of  the  usual  one-room  type; 

Fourteen  have  two  rooms ;' 

One  has  three  rooms  ; 

Four  have  four  rooms  ; 

Three  have  five  rooms; 

One  has  six  rooms. 

Twenty-six  churches  have  both  horse-sheds  and  parking  space 
for  automobiles.  Three  churches  have  parking  space  for  automobiles 
only.    One  church  has  horse-sheds  only. 

The  value  of  the  church  buildings  in  the  county  is  shown  in  the 
following  table  which  shows,  incidentally,  a  much  higher  average 
value  where  located  in  the  villages  than  where  situated  in  the  open 
country. 

Number  Total  Average 

Location  Buildings  Value  Value 

Village    17  $171,500  $10,088 

Open  Country   13  90,000  6,925 

30  $261,500  $  8,717 

43 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J, 


FRIENDSHIP  METHODIST         EPISCOPAL  PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,   DARETOWN 

CHURCH,    NORTHERN    PART    OF    ELMER 


HICKSITE     FRIENDS     MEETING     HOUSE, 
WOODSTOWN 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH, 
SHARPTOVVN 


There  are  fourteen  parsonages  connected  with  the  seventeen 
village  churches,  and  ten  with  the  thirteen  open  country  churches. 
Thus  the  proportion  is  about  the  same.  The  total  value  of  the 
twenty-four  parsonages  is  $72,000,  an  average  value  of  $3,000. 
The  average  value  of  the  village  parsonages  is  $3-357,  and  that  of 
the  open  country  parsonages  is  $2,500.  The  condition  of  these 
twenty-four  parsonages  is  as  follows :  twenty  good,  two  fair,  two 
poor. 

Four  open  country  churches  and  three  village  churches  own 
other  buildings  representing  a  total  value  of  $13,900,  an  average 
value   of   $1,986.     Two   village    churches   and    three   open   country 

44 


EQUIPMENT  AND  FINANXE 

churches  have  income-bearing  property  vahied  at  $6,830.     Of  this 
amount  $3,000  is  held  by  one  church. 

Judging  from  these  figures,  Salem  County  prefers  the  settled, 
resident  minister.  The  proportion  of  congregations  with  parsonages 
is  approximately  the  same  in  town  and  country.  Compared  with 
usual  conditions  in  rural  America  there  is  a  low  percentage  of  one- 
room  buildings.  The  additional  rooms  in  the  other  churches  are  not, 
however,  extensively  used  for  social  and  community  purposes. 

Finance 

Salem  Count}-,  in  this  particular  as  in  many  others,  ranks  a  little 
above  the  average.     Only  eight  churches  have  no  systematic  method 


EFFECT  OF  SYSTEM  IN  CMURCM   FINANCE 
UPON  PER  CAPITA  GIVING 

IN    OPEN  COUNTRY  CHURCHES 

Annual  Amounf  Contributed  per  Active  Member 

Without *E.fficJent^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  *..    .^ 
Financial   System  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  *     ' 

With      Efficient     H^^^HHMMHHHH^^^^H  $16.61 
Financial  System 

*A  budqet  for  all  money  raised  and  an  every  member  canvass. 


CHART  I 

of  handling  their  finances.    Seventeen  budget  all  the  money  they  raise 
while  five  congregations  use  the  budget  system  for  local  expenses. 

Six  churches  raise  their  income  by  means  of  single  envelopes, 
seventeen  by  the  duplex  system.  Seven  churches  do  not  use  the 
envelope  system  with  regulated  payments,  but  depend  on  monthly, 
quarterly,  annual,  or  even  hit-or-miss  payments  by  their  members. 

The  proportion  of  open  country  churches  using  the  above  im- 
proved methods  of  raising  church  income  is  about  the  same  for 
village  churches. 

Curiously  enough,  however,  only  fourteen  of  the  twenty-three 
churches  which  use  the  envelope  system  employ  the  every  member 
canvass.  In  this  the  country  churches  lead.  It  is  noticeable  that 
the  country  churches  putting  on  an  annual  every  member  canvass  in 
connection  with  their  budget  and  envelope  system,  report  a  higher  per 
capita  contribution,  and  seem  to  be  in  better  financial  condition  than 
those  which  are  not  so  thorough. 

45 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 


The  average  per  capita  contribution,  per  year,  of  the  open  country- 
churches  with  budget  system  and  every  member  canvass  is  $i8.6i. 
The  average  per  capita  contribution,  per  year,  of  open  country 
churches  with  budget  system  without  every  member  canvass  is 
$14.42.  (See  figure  I.  entitled  "Effect  of  System  in  Church  Finance 
Upon  Per  Capita  Giving.") 

In  the  case  of  the  village  churches,  the  figures  are  practically  the 
same,  due  apparently  to  the  liberality  of  the  contributors  in  two  or 
three  churches.    There  is  not  a  church  among  the  entire  thirty  active, 


HOW  THE  CHURCH  DOLLAR  IS  RAISED 

VILLAGE    CHURCHES         COUNTRY   CHURCHES 


CHART   II 

organized  congregations  in  the  county  now  receiving  home  mission 
aid.  Until  last  year,  one  church  drew  $500  a  year  from  its  denomina- 
tional funds,  but  this  payment  has  been  discontinued. 

Receipts. 

The  total  amount  of  money  raised  by  the  thirty  churches  for  the 
year  preceding  the  survey  was  $55,355-6i.  Of  this,  $33,718.62  was 
raised  by  the  seventeen  village  churches,  an  average  of  $1,989.45 
per  congregation,  and  $21,636.99  by  the  thirteen  open  country 
churches,  an  average,  per  congregation,  of  $1,684.38. 

A  typical  dollar  is  raised  by  the  following  methods : 

In  Village   Churches  In   Country   Churches 

By  subscription  $  .82       By  subscription  

"    Collection    15        "    Collection    

"    Other  jMethods 03        "    Other  Methods   


$  .67 
•  15 
.18 


$1.00  $1.00 

(See  figure  II.  entitled  "How  the  Church  Dollar  is  Raised.") 

46 


EQUIPMENT  AND  FINANCE 

Expenditures 

The  total  amount  of  money  disbursed  for  all  purposes  in  the 
year  preceding  the  survey  was  $55,204.61.  This  is  an  average  of 
$1,980.09  for  village  churches  and  $1,657.15  for  those  in  the  open 
country.  Of  this  total  amount,  almost  half,  or  $25,089.56  went  for 
salaries,  $16,152  for  missions  and  benevolences  and  $13,983.04 
for  contingent  expenses,  including  repairs,  buildings  and  other  cur- 
rent expenses.  The  benevolence  contributions  are  noteworthy.  It 
is  an  exceptional   rural  church  that  gives  away  as  much  as  one- 


HOW  THE  CHURCH  DOLLAR  IS  EXPENDED 

VILLAGE  CHURCHES  COUNTRY  CHURCHES 


CHART  III 


quarter  of  its  income,  and,  for  the  rural  churches  of  a  county  to 
average  better  than  twenty-nine  per  cent  is  indeed  worthy  of  note. 
A  typical  dollar  is  spent  for  the  following  purposes : 


111  Village  Churches 

For  Salary  $  -49 

"     Missions  and  Benevolences      .28 
"     All  other  purposes 23 


In  Open  Country  Churches 

For  Salary  $  .41 

"     Missions  and  Benevolences      .31 
"    All  odier  purooses 28 


$1.00 


$1.00 


(See  figure  III  entitled  "How  the  Church  Dollar  is  Expended."). 
The   following  table  shows  the  disbursement   for  the  average 
active  member : 


In  Village  Churches 

For  Salary $  7-i9 

"     Missions  and  Benevolences    4.08 
Other  expenses  3-14 


In  Open  Country  Churches 

For  Salary $702 

"     Missions  and  Benevolences     5.53 
Other  expenses  4.96 


Total    $14-71  Total    $17.51 

47 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

These  figures  demonstrate  that  the  farmer  and  the  farmers' 
church  in  Salem  County  are  holding  their  own  so  far  as  finances  are 
concerned. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  per  capita  contribution  of  the 
negro  churches  is  $10.50  higher  than  that  of  the  white,  open  country 
churches,  and  $12.95  higher  than  that  of  the  village  churches.  This 
shows  that  the  white  churches  have  by  no  means  reached  the  possible 
limit  of  giving. 


48 


Chapter  VII 
THE  MINISTER 

TWENTY-FOUR  pastors  serve  the  thirty  active  and  organized 
Protestant  churches  of  Salem  County.     Two  of  these  have 
other  occupations — one  being  a  student,  the  other  a  salesman. 
One  church — the  Alloway  Baptist — was  without  a  pastor  at  the 
time  of  the  survey.    It  now  has  a  resident  minister. 

With  respect  to  the  residence  of  the  pastor:  the  churches  with 
pastoral  service  may  be  classified  as  follows  (the  two  Friends'  meet- 
ings are  omitted  from  the  classification.) 

Church  with  In   Village     In  Open   Country  Total 

Pastor  resident  in  parish  13  5  18 

Pastor  non-resident  in  parish   3  6  9 

No  Pastor  i  o  i 

17  II  28 

(See  figure  IV  entitled  "Twenty-eight  Protestant  Churches  Clas- 
sified According  to  Residence  of  Ministers.") 

From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  village  churches  have 
a  higher  proportion  of  ministers  resident  in  their  parishes,  and 
that  the  open  country  churches  are  handicapped  somewhat  by  a 
greater  proportion  of  absentee  ministers. 

A  classification  made  on  the  basis  of  communities  shows  that 
eight  of  the  fifteen  rural  communities  have  a  full-time  resident 
minister. 

One  pastor  travels  a  distance  of  about  ninety  miles  to  hold  ser- 
vices. Four  pastors  live  outside  the  county  and  travel  distances  of 
less  than  ten  miles  to  conduct  services. 

The  manifold  experiences  of  recent  decades  have  shown  that, 
other  things  being  equal,  a  resident  minister  is  a  great  asset  to  a 
country  church.  In  large  measure  the  growth  of  a  church  is  contin- 
gent on  the  amount  of  ministerial  service  which  it  receives.  The 
situation  in  Salem  County  in  this  respect  is  as  follows: 

49 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

Churches  Churches 

with                                       with  Churches 

Resident                          Non-Resident  with  no 

Location             Pastors        Growing          Pastors           Growing  Pastor            Growing 

In  Village 13                  8                 .3                  0  i                  o 

[n  Open  Country.     526200 


Total    18  10 


o 


Of  the  eighteen  churches  with  resident  pastors  ten  are  growing. 
Of  the  nine  churches  with  non-resident  pastors  two  are  growing. 
The  one  church  without  a  pastor  is  not  growing. 

Of  the  twenty-four  pastors  serving  the  county  nineteen  have  free 
parsonages. 

Salaries  paid  the  ministers  range  from  $1200  to  $1500.  This 
figure  includes  $250.00  for  each  pastor  who  has  a  free  parsonage. 
The  classification  of  the  total  yearly  salaries  of  the  ministers  is  seen 
from    the    table    which    follows : 

Number  of  Pastors  Giving        Number  of  Pastors 
Receiving  Salary  of  Full  Time  to  the  Ministry     with  Other  Occupations 

Less  than  $500  per  year 0  i 

$  501-$    750    o  I 

$   75i-$i,ooo   6  o 

$I,O0I-$I,250    2  o 

$1,251-$!, 500   8  '  0 

$i.5oi-$i,7So   4  o 

$i,75i-$2,ooo   I  o 

$2,000  and  over   i  o 

Total   22  2 

(See  figure  V  entitled  "Salary  Scale  of  the  Twenty-four  Min- 
isters.") 

In  the  following  classification  of  ministers'  salaries,  $250.00 
has  been  added  as  the  cash  value  of  each  parsonage  whenever  pro- 
vided : — 

Maximum   salary    $2,100.00 

Minimum    salary    260.00 

Average  salary    1,113.18 

Modal   average    1,251.00  to  1,500.00 

Eleven  pastors  have  college  and  seminary  training;  four  have 
training  of  college,  seminary,  Bible  school  or  similar  institution; 
nine  report  no  special  training  for  ministry.  Those  with  college 
and  seminary  training  receive  an  average  salary  of  $1,335.45;  those 
with  only  college  or  seminary  training,  $1,362.50;  while  the  untrained 
pastors  receive  an  average  of  $1,225.44. 

Five  ministers  of  village  and  four  of  open  country  churches, 
have  automobiles.  Although  used  for  promoting  the  work  of  th« 
congregation  most  churches  supply  neither  car  nor  upkeep. 

50 


TWENTY  EIGHT  PROTESTANT 

CHURCHES    CLASSIFIED    ACCORDING 

TO  RESIDENCE  OF   MINISTERS 


18 -Churches  with 
Resident    Ministers 


Churches  with 
Non -Resident  Ministers 


!■  Church   with 

no  Minister 


(2 -Friends    Churches  omitted  from  this  classificotion) 


SALARY    SCALE 
OF  THE   24   MINISTERS 


EOOO 

1800 

1600 

1400 

1200 

1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 


EACH  VERTICAL  LINE  REPRESENTS  THE  SALARY  OF  ONE  MINISTER 

The  2  lowest  salaries  are  those  of  ministers  with  other  occupations. 
Fiqures  include  ^250  per  year  as  value  of  parsonage  when  provided. 


*III3 

A\/CD  A/^C 

AVLKAoL 

CHART  V 

51 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

In  spite  of  the  prosperous  condition  of  the  county  and  the 
strength  of  the  majority  of  the  churches,  Salem  County  pastors 
show  the  symptoms  of  unrest  or  dissatisfaction  which  in  these  days 
are  evidenced  elsewhere.  Only  seven  churches  out  of  thirty  have 
been  able  to  keep  their  pastors  for  a  period  of  five  years  or  more. 
Seven  village,  and  eight  open  country  churches  have  had  their 
pastors   for  two  years  or  less,  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  those 


NUMBER    OF    PASTORATES 
OVER     TEN    YEAR    PERIOD 

28   PROTESTANT   CHURCHES 

Number  of 

Pastorates 

7                2 

C                             ^ 

c  . 

2 

4 

6 

2 

1  . 

2 

1 

H 

u 
EACH  VERTICAL 

LINE  REPRESENTS  ONE   CHUR 

CH 

CHART   VI 


fifteen  are  in  their  first  year  with  their  present  ministers.  During  the 
past  decade  four  churches  have  had  three  pastors,  two  have  had  four, 
seven  have  had  five,  two  have  had  six,  three  have  had  seven.  Two 
churches  were  not  able  to  report  the  actual  number.  In  other 
words,  almost  one-half  the  churches  in  Salem  County  have  had  a 
new  pastor  every  two  years,  or  oftener.  In  this  respect  there  is 
no  apparent  difference  between  the  open  country  and  the  village 
churches.  In  the  months  that  elapsed  betw^een  the  completion  of 
the  field  work  and  the  publication  of  the  survey,  there  were  eight 
additional  changes  in  the  pastoral  leadership  of  churches  in  the 
county. 

52 


THE   MINISTER 

(See  figure  YI  entitled  "Number  of  Pastorates  Over  Ten-}ear 
Period.") 

The  present  minister  or  leading  members  of  twenty-one  of  the 
churches  reported  the  outlook  for  the  future  "fair,"  "good"  or 
"bright."  Six  definitely  acknowledged  the  future  outlook  as  "poor" 
and  three  expressed  no  opinion.  Among  the  problems  of  the 
churches,  usually  named  by  pastors,  or  in  their  absence  by  some 
leading  member,  the  following  received  most  frequent  mention : 
lack  of  equipment ;  scattered  population ;  lack  of  adequate  financial 
support;  migration  of  young  people  to  the  cities;  lack  of  a  resident 
minister. 


53 


Chapter  VIII 
MEMBERSHIP 

THE  total  number  of  people  on  the  roll  of  the  churches  in  Salem 
County  is  4,909.  Of  this  number,  3,519  are  active.  (An 
active  member,  in  this  study,  is  one  who  attends  church, 
occasionally  at  least,  and  contributes  toward  its  support.)  Of  these, 
2,289  sre  members  of  seventeen  village  churches,  an  average  of  135 
per  congregation  ;  and  1,230  are  members  of  the  thirteen  open  country 
churches,  an  average  of  123  per  congregation.    There  are  705  mem- 


CHURCH  MEMBERS  IN  POPULATION 


Non-Members 
71% 


Members 
29% 


CHART   VII 

bers  not  resident  within  the  community  in  which  their  church  is 
located.  If  the  rural  population  of  Penns  Grove  and  Salem  be 
excluded,  the  total  resident  membership  is  twenty-nine  per  cent 
of  the  total  town  and  country  population.  There  is  a  separate  state- 
ment of  church  membership  in  these  areas.  (See  figure  VII  en- 
titled "Church  Members  in  Population.") 

An  analysis  of  the  church  membership  is  given  in  the  following 
table : 

Village  Open  Country 

Churches  Churches  Total  Per  Cent 

Total   enrollment    3,073  1,836  4,909  100 

Active  2,289  i>230  3-519  72 

Non-resident    384  321  705  14.6 

Other  inactive  400  265  685  13.4 

54 


MEMBERSHIP 


(See  figure  VIII  entitled  ''Residence  and  Activity  of  Church 
Members.") 

An  analysis  of  the  resident  church  membership  of  twenty-seven 
churches  of  the  thirty,  shows  the  following  age  and  sex  groups : 

Men  over     21  years  comprise  31%  of  the  resident  meml)ership 

"     under    "  "             '"            9%     "     "           "                   " 

Women    over       "  "             "          48%     "     "           "                   " 

under    "  "            "          12%     "     "          "                  " 

Salem  Rural  Comimmity 

The  process  of  determining  community  boundaries  has  already 
been  explained.  The  population  of  the  Salem  rural  community  is 
3,098.     The   number  of   people   resident   in    farm-homes   who   are 


RESIDENCE  &  ACTIVITY  OF  CHURCH  MEMBERS 

(30  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES  WITH  ENROLLMENT  OF  4909) 
Resident -C85.4%  of  Total  Roll) 


7Z% 
Active 


•*  An  inactive  member  is  one  who 
does  noT  attend  church  or  contribute  to  its  support. 


CHART   Vni 

members  of  the  Salem  city  churches  is  one  hundred  and  eighty.  Of 
these,  sixty-one  persons,  from  thirteen  families  belong  to  the  Salem 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  This  result  was  not  secured  by  house-to- 
house  canvass,  but  rests  upon  the  statements  of  the  ministers  in  Salem 
as  to  their  membership  in  this  area.  It  is  possible  that  some  of 
these  people  belong  to  churches  lying  outside  of  the  county,  though 
this  is  not  probable,  seeing  that  the  population  has  been  quite  stable. 
The  Woodstown  churches  have  a  few  members  in  this  area,  but  it  is 
not  likely  that  the  people  here  are  connected  with  churches  located 
in  the  adjacent  communities,  for  if  this  were  the  case,  the  parish 
boundaries  of  these  churches  would  indicate  this  fact.  It  appears, 
therefore,  that  there  is  a  religiously  neglected  group  of  people,  for 
whom  the  churches  of  Salem,  together  wath  their  nearest  neighbors 

55 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

to  the  south,  east  and  north  are  responsible.  The  extent  of  this 
responsibility,  only  a  house  to  house  canvass  could  determine  ac- 
curately. 

The  Penns  Grove  situation  is  more  difficult  to  analyze.  It  has 
been  in  a  state  of  flux  ever  since  the  signing  of  the  Armistice.  The 
Red  Cross  survey  of  Salem  County  shows  that  there  were  seven 
churches  in  the  city  whose  membership  was  largely  drawn  from  the 
outlying  districts.  With  two  exceptions,  however,  the  pastors  of 
Penns  Grove  churches  claim  very  few  rural  members.  The  excep- 
tions are  both  large  churches  with  a  membership  around  the  400 
mark.  These  report  about  ten  per  cent  of  their  membership  as 
coming  from  the  outlying  rural  territory.  Its  rural  community  has 
a  population  of  744  and  a  church  membership  of  approximately  one 
hundred.  In  addition,  some  Pedricktown  members  live  in  this 
community.  Making  due  allowance  for  both  these  groups  it  would 
seem  that  there  are  at  least  one  hundred  unchurched  families  in  this 
section. 

Gain  and  Loss 

The  size  of  the  churches  can  be  visualized  better  by  means  of  the 
following  table,  which  shows  also  for  the  various  groups,  the  number 
of  churches  which  are  gaining:    (Gain  is  for  one-year  period.) 

Churches  with  Net  In   Open        ^  Total 

Active  Membership  of         In  Villages  Growing      Country       Growing     Churches     Growing 

25  or  less   I  o  3  0  4  o 

26-  50    2  o  3  I  5  I 

51-100    4  I  3  I  7  ^ 

101-150    4  3  2  I  6  4 

151-over   6  4  2  I  8  5 

Total  17  8  13  4  30  12 

This  result  is  only  to  be  expected.  In  the  case  of  a  church,  which 
has  just  been  organized  or  which  is  now  located  in  a  new  and 
developing  neighborhood,  it  is  unusual  for  growth  to  occur  when 
the  active  membership  drops  to  fifty.  Indeed,  in  certain  localities 
in  Ohio  where  studies  have  been  made,  it  has  been  shown  that  under 
these  conditions  such  a  church  has  but  one  chance  in  four  of  sur- 
viving. (See  figure  IX  entitled  "Relation  of  Size  of  Membership 
to  Church  Efficiency.") 

Viewed  in  percentages  the  above  table  can  be  translated  as  fol- 
lows: 

56 


MEMBERSHIP 

Per  Cent  Per  Cent  of  Total 

Churches  with                                 Growing  No.  of  Churches 

25  or  less  members  o  13-33 

26-50               "          20%  16.66 

Si-ioo              "          297o  23.33 

ior-150               "          62-2/3%  20 

151   and  over    66-1.2%  26.66 

In  short,  forty  per  cent  of  the  churches  are  gaining,  sixty  per 

cent  are  stationary  or  decHning.     Only  one  church  made  a  gain  of 


RELATION    OF    SIZE 
OF  CHURCH    MEMBERSHIP    TO    GAIN 

OF    9   CHURCHES  OF    21    CHURCHES 

with  membership  of  less  than  50  with  membership  of  50  or  more 

89%    did^- — ^^1%  gained  46%  did    ^ — ^^2%qained 

not  qain /^        ^^^^  not  qan 


did^--^^1% 


id   ,^^'fc^2% 

3 


DURING     PAST    ONE    YEAR    PERIOD 


CHART   IX 


more  than  ten  per  cent  in  its  membership.     The   following  table 
indicates  the  rate  of  growth  and  decline  for  the  year. 

Churches  Showing  Village  Open  Country  Total     • 

Net   loss    4  3  7 

Even  break    3  6  g 

Gain  less  than  5%     5  3  8 

Gain  from  5-10%     3  o  3 

Gain  of  over  10%    o  i  i 

No  information  2  o  2 

Total    17  13  30 

(See  figure  X  entitled  "The  Number  of  Churches  Gaining  and 
Losing  in  One- Year  Period.") 

It  should  be  admitted  that  conclusions  reached  on  the  basis  of 
one-year  figures  only  are  open  to  some  criticism.  For  instance,  one 
of  the  strongest  churches  in  the  county  showed  a  loss  because  of  a 
rigid  pruning  of  the  roll  coupled  with  an  earnest  effort  to  have 
non-residents  unite  with  churches  where  they  were  living.  Member- 
ship figures  covering  a  ten-year  period  are  available  for  twenty-three 

57 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

of  the  thirty  churches.     They  show  the  total  membership  to  have 

remained  stationary  for  the  first  five  years  of  the  decade,  but  to 

have  made  a  gain  of  seven  and  nine-tenths  per  cent  for  the  latter 

five. 

(These  twenty-three  churches) 

Membership  lo  years  ago   3,793 

I,'  5      "         "      3,794 

today    4,089 

It  should  be  remembered  that  these  are,  for  the  most  part,  the 
stronger  churches  of  the  county.     They  have  made  a  gain  of  seven 


THE  NUMBER  OF  CHURCHE5  GAINING  &  LOSING 
IN  ONE  YEAR   PERIOD 

30    PROTESTANT  CHURCHES 
9  Churches    Lost       I       II       II       II       I  PHI II II II 1 

9  Churches ^f^7iXy  ^^^^^1^1^^^ 
12  Churches  Gained 


LESS    THAN     5%  5-10% 


and  nine-tenths  in  the  last  five  years  in  the  face  of  a  slight  decrease 
in  the  rural  population.  That  smaller  churches  among  these  twenty- 
three  have  not  shared  in  this  growth  is  shown  by  the  following  table : 

Membership  Growing  Stationary  Declining 

50  or  less    0  2  o 

51  to  150    4  3  3 

151  and  over    7  o  4 

The  total  gain  for  the  past  year,  for  the  thirty  churches,  was  230. 
This  was  six  per  cent  of  the  net  active  membership  of  all  the 
churches.  The  total  loss  in  members  was  176.  Thus  there  was  a 
net  gain  of  fifty-four  members,  or  about  one  per  cent  of  the  former 
net  active  membership  of  the  churches. 

The  "protracted  meeting"  is  a  frequently  used  method  of  enlist- 
ing new  members.  Twelve  village,  and  five  open  country  churches 
held  such  meetings  during  the  year  prior  to  the  survey.  Seven  only 
report  converts,  the  total  being  ninety.  These  meetings  lasted  from 
one  to  six  weeks.  Forty- four  other  members  were  received  by 
Salem  County  rural  churches  on  confession  of  faith.     The  total 

58 


MEMBERSHIP 

evangelistic  return'  for  the  year,  therefore,  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  or  thirty-two  less  than  the  loss. 

We  also  note  from  the  whole  discussion  of  growth  and  decline, 
or  gain  and  loss,  that  in  the  matter  of  growth,  the  open  country  and 
the  hamlet  church  falls  far  behind  the  village  church.  This  is 
evident  from  scanning  the  two  tables  on  "growth  and  size"  and 
that  showing  the  rate  of  gain.  There  are  surprising  differences, 
especially  in  the  open  country  churches  having  less  than  one  hundred 
members,  between  the  total  membership  and  the  resident  membership. 
In  nine  of  the  eleven  churches,  the  active  resident  membership  is 
half,  or  less  than  half  the  total  membership.  In  five  of  these  nine 
cases,  it  is  forty  per  cent  or  less.  Members  who  have  removed 
city-ward  retain  their  membership,  but  such  connection,  at  best, 
is  but  nominal  and  holds  no  hope  of  future  gain.  Thus,  one-third 
of  the  churches  in  Salem  County  may  be  face  to  face  with  the 
question  of  survival  within  a  few  years. 

Eight  out  of  seventeen  village  congregations  showed  some  gain. 
Thus,  forty-seven  per  cent  of  these  congregations  made  a  net  gain. 

Four  out  of  thirteen  open  country  churches,  or  thirty  and  six- 
tenths  per  cent  also  made  a  net  gain. 

Occupation  of  Members 

The  employed  membership  of  twenty-nine  out  of  thirty  churches 
shows  a  total  of  1,554  engaged  in  some  gainful  occupation.  Of  this 
number,  897  are  farmers,  and  657  are  business  men.  professional 
workers,  mechanics,  clerks,  factory  workers,  and  followers  of  all 
other  occupations. 

More  detailed  classification  of  the  897  farmers  is  possible. 
Eighty-eight  or  nine  and  eight-tenths  per  cent  are  retired,  seventy- 
four  of  the  number  belonging  to  the  village  churches,  and  fourteen 
to  open  country  churches. 

Five  hundred  and  twenty-six  or  fifty-eight  and  six-tenths  per 
cent  are  operating  farm-owners,  and  349  attend  the  open  country 
churches,  while  177  attend  the  village  churches. 

Again  of  the  897  farmers  on  the  church  rolls,  184,  or  twenty 
and  five-tenths  per  cent,  are  operating  tenant-farmers.  Of  these, 
one  hundred  and  one  attend  the  open  country  churches  and  eighty- 
three  attend  the  village  churches.  The  proportion  of  tenant-farmers 
in  the  county  is  thirty-five  and  five-tenths.  The  church  does  not 
reach  the  tenant  as  easily  as  the  owner,  even  in  Salem  County. 

Ninety-nine,  or  eleven  and  one-tenth  per  cent  of  the  farmers  on 
the  church  rolls,  consist  of  farm  laborers.     Of  this  class,  village 

59 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

clntrches  have  fifty-two  and  open  country  churches  forty-seven. 
Thus  710  heads  of  famihes  in  the  churches  are  operating  farmers, 
owners  and  tenants.  There  are  1,802  farms  in  the  county,  according 
to  the  Government  census  of  1920.  According  to  the  count  of  the 
county  agricuhural  agent,  there  are  1,505.  Even  ahowing  for 
Jewish  and  Roman  Cathohc  farmers,  these  figures  show  a  large 
field  for  intensive  work  on  the  part  of  the  Protestant  churches. 
In  view  of  the  membership  figures  of  the  two  religious  bodies  just 
named,  it  is  not  unfair  to  assume  that  there  are  at  least  four  hundred 
unchurched  farm-homes  within  the  county. 

Church  Parishes 

The  parish  boundaries  as  shown  on  the  map  give  the  location 
of  the  main  body  of  the  members  of  every  church.  Usually,  the 
parish  is  shown  according  to  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass. 
In  some  cases,  in  order  to  attain  greater  accuracy,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  use  more  points  than  those  which  lie  directly  east,  west, 
north  or  south.  In  these  instances,  direction,  and  the  number  of 
the  roads  leading  to  the  church,  were  made  the  determining  factors. 

A  glance  at  the  extent  of  the  parishes  of  the  church  show  that 
there  is  very  little  territory  not  included  within  the  parish  of  some 
church.  The  section  at  the  southern  end  of  the  county  is  fairly  well 
reached  by  churches  in  Cumberland  County.  Most  of  this  area 
belongs  logically  to  communities  centering  in  Cumberland  County, 
or  lies  as  neutral  territory  between  them  and  several  communities 
in  Salem  County.  However  this  may  be,  a  few  communities  are 
not  adequately  reached  by  the  churches.  (See  map  3  for  an  illus- 
tration of  this  kind.) 

Sixteen  of  the  churches  have  some  foreign  population  within 
their  parish  boundaries.  Only  two  of  the  churches  are  doing  any- 
thing at  all  for  these  people ;  and  what  work  there  is  must  be  classed 
as  negligible.  For  the  most  part  the  foreign-speaking  people  are 
scattered  and  hence  hard  to  reach,  except  in  the  case  of  those  who 
come  every  year  to  help  in  the  trucking  operations  carried  on  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  county.  These  have  already  been  alluded 
to.  A  few  of  these  people  attend  the  Catholic  churches  at  Salem, 
Woodstown  or  Swedesboro,  but  the  majority  seem  to  have  no 
affiliation.  The  churches  at  Pedricktown  could  be  used  as  a  base 
for  effective  work  among  these  people  during  the  summer  months, 
if  an  additional  worker  and  some  missionary  aid  were  provided. 
The  majority  of  these  people  do  not  attend  any  church  on  Sunday. 
The  day  is  one  of  pleasure-seeking  or  idleness.     Probably  it  has 

60 


auburn:   mapped  above,  is  an  illustration  of  a  settled  community  with 

A     SMALL     church     PARISH — THE     CHURCH     RE.\CHING    OUT     ONLY     TO     ONE- 
THIRD   OF    THE   COMMUNITY   AREA. 


61 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

never  occurred  to  them  that  they  might  attend  the  churches  of  their 
employers.  At  the  same  time,  however,  it  is  doubtful  whether  these 
churches  have  made  the  foreigners  feel  at  home.  A  warm-hearted 
personal  invitation  might  go  a  long  way  toward  bringing  them  under 
the  light  and  influence  of  the  Gospel.  The  churches  of  Salem 
County  should  realize,  in  regard  to  the  permanent  foreign  population, 
that  the  first  families  are  often  the  forerunners  of  others,  and  that 
the  best  time  to  begin  Christian  Americanization  is  when  the  first 
of  the  new  Americans  come. 


62 


Chapter  IX 
ORGANIZATION  AND  PROGRAM 


SUNDAY    SCHOOLS 


E 


VERY  one  of  the  thirty  churches  dealt  with  in  this  survey- 
has  a  Sunday  school.  The  total  enrollment,  average  enroll- 
ment and  attendance  is  shown  in  the  following  table : 


Total 
Enrollment 

Average 

Enrollment 

Average 
Attendance 

2,098 
1,191 

92 

76 

56 

Location  School 

of  Churches         Reporting 

In  Village    16 

In  Open  Country..     13 

29  3,289  113  67 

The  total  enrollment  of  these  Sunday  schools,  3.298,  is  sixty- 
seven  per  cent  of  the  total  church  enrollment.  In  the  village  churches 
the  proportion  is  slightly  higher,  and  in  the  open  country  churches, 
the  proportion  is  somewhat  lower  than  the  percentage  for  the  entire 
county. 

The  attendance  in  all  the  schools,  on  a  typical  Sunday,  shows 
that  in  the  village  fifty-eight  per  cent  of  the  total  enrollment  is 
present,  wdiile  in  the  open  country  the  attendance  is  sixty-one  per 
cent  of  the  enrollment.  Twelve  village  schools  report  a  total  of  400 
members  from  farm-homes.  Among  other  things,  this  fact  shows 
how  largely  the  village  and  open  country  are  inter-related. 

The  number  of  rooms  used  by  the  Sunday  schools  corresponds 
very  closely  with  the  number  of  rooms  reported  as  available  in  the 
church  plants.  In  other  words,  the  Sunday  school  is  usually  given 
the  run  of  the  church  ]}uilding  for  its  purposes. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  as  already  stated  Salem  County 
has  a  good  record  for  missionary  giving,  but  curiously  enough  the 
Sunday  schools  do  not  give  the  attention  to  this  subject  that  the  final 
results  would  lead  one  to  exi)ect.  Seven  village  schools  have  mission 
study,  six  monthly,  the  other  occasionally.  Five  open  country  schools 
also  report  mission  study,  one  quarterly,  two  monthly,  the  others 
at  undetermined  intervals.  Sixty  per  cent  of  the  Sunday  schools 
do  nothing  along  this  line.  Eleven  village  schools  and  ten  open 
country  schools,  however,  take  regular  missionary  offerings.  Four- 
teen schools  observe  Decision  Day;  eleven  in  villages,  three  in  the 

63 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

open  country.  One  reports  the  results  as  satisfactory  and  four 
others  report  from  one  to  four  decisions.  Only  two  schools,  both  in 
villages,  hold  classes  to  prepare  scholars  for  church  membership. 
Six  village  schools  and  five  open  country  schools  sent  a  total  of  112 
of  their  scholars  into  the  church  membership  last  year.  Apparently 
there  is  room  for  a  more  intensive  cultivation  of  the  evangelistic 
opportunity  offered  in  the  Sunday  school. 

Eleven  schools  have  a  total  of  thirty  of  their  members  attend- 
ing college  or  some  other  educational  institution  above  high  school 
grade.  Of  these  thirty,  twenty-two  are  from  the  villages  and  eight 
from  the  open  country.  Three  persons  have  gone  out  from  the 
Sunday  schools  of  Salem  County  into  professional  Christian  service 
within  the  last  ten  years.  All  of  these  were  from  village  Sunday 
schools.     This  record  is  below  the  average. 

The  social  life  of  the  Sunday  school  is  limited,  in  most  cases, 
to  the  annual' picnic  which  is  held  by  twenty-eight  schools.  Ten 
schools  report  other  social  affairs,  for  the  school  as  a  whole,  such 
as  suppers,  parties  and  other  gatherings,  as  well  as  social  affairs 
for  individual  classes  within  the  school  organization.  One  Sunday 
school  has  an  athletic  organization. 

The  chief  remaining  facts  in  regard  to  Sunday  school  organiza- 
tion in  Salem  County  are  presented  in  the  following  table : 

Number  in  Number  in 
Schools  with                                                    Village  Open  Country- 
Leadership  training    3  i 

Organized  classes   5  i 

Cradle  roll   8  9 

Home  department   9  6 

Teachers'  training  classes   4  i 

Sunday  school  papers  regularly  distributed   12  9 

Libraries     9  2 

Sunday  schools  open  all  year   17  12 

Other  Organi::.ations  zvifhin  the  Churches 

The  total  number  of  other  organizations  within  the  churches  for 
the  entire  county  is  as  follows: 

For  Number  of  Organizations 

Men    2 

Women    ^y 

Boys   I 

Girls    I 

Mixed  organizations   27 

Total   68 

Of  these  organizations,  those  for  women  and  young  people  are 
evenly  distributed  between  village  and  open  country  churches.    The 

64 


ORGANIZATION  AND  PROGRAM 

men's  organizations  are  a  club  of  fifty  members  and  an  ushers'  union 
of  forty-five.  A  Boy  Scout  troop  and  a  group  of  "Standard 
Bearers"  are  the  boys'  and  girls'  organizations.  Those  for  women 
are  as  follows:  seventeen  Ladies'  Aids;  seventeen  Missionary  or- 
ganizations ;  two  Mite  Societies ;  one  Women's  League. 

There  are  sixteen  Young  People's  Societies,  such  as  Epworth 
League,  Y.P.S.C.E.,  etc.;  and  six  miscellaneous. 

PROGRAM 

The  churches  of  Salem  County  do  not  suffer  from  lack  of  regular 
church  services.  All  of  them  have  at  least  one  service  every  Sunday 
and  the  majority  have  two.  This  is  particularly  true  in  the  villages, 
while  in  the  open  country  one  service  is  the  prevailing  custom. 

Naturally,  the  village  churches  have  more  opportunity  to  hold 
union  services  than  those  in  the  open  country.  Eleven  of  the  eighteen 
village  churches  unite  with  more  frecjuency  in  such  meetings. 
In  four  cases,  this  is  particularly  true  during  the  summer  months. 
Only  one  of  the  thirteen  open  country  churches  is  able  to  join  in 
a  union  service.  In  all,  sixteen  churches  of  the  thirty  in  the  country 
say,  definitely,  that  they  do  not  join  in  any  union  meetings. 

Coming  to  the  consideration  of  the  more  general  church  pro- 
gram, we  find  a  variety  of  activities.  Eight  churches  attempt  some 
form  of  special  missionary  service ;  seventeen  take  part  in  local 
charitable  work  when  needed ;  six  lend  their  aid  to  civic  enterprises 
in  their  communities ;  one  is  definitely  furthering  some  agricultural 
work ;  seven  definitely  supply  some  form  of  social  or  recreational 
afi^airs  other  than  those  of  specific  organizations  within  the  church ; 
four  carry  on  some  educational  work  outside  of  the  Sunday  school ; 
four  strive  to  do  si)ccial  work  among  young  people,  in  addition  to 
that  undertaken  by  their  regidar  organizations.  Sixteen  churches 
celebrate  festivals,  holidays,  anniversaries,  etc. 

Five  churches  definitely  cooperate,  for  certain  purposes,  with 
other  than  denominational  bodies ;  three,  as  congregations,  cooperate 
with  non-religious  bodies  in  their  communities  or  county.  In  eight 
churches,  definite  attempts  are  made  to  apply  Gospel  teachings  to 
such  activities  as  are  mentioned  above.  All  but  seven  can  say  that 
they  undertake  something  along  these  lines.  Four  of  the  seven  are 
in  the  open  country,  three  are  in  villages. 

SEPARATE    SUNDAY    SCHOOLS 

There  are  six  separate  Sunday  schools  active  in  Salem  County. 
All  are  located  in  the  open  country.    One  abandoned  Sunday  school 

65 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 


BAPTIST  CHURCH,   PEDRICKTOWN — "MOVING    THE    HORSE-SHED's    DAy" — PASTOR   AND 
LAYMEN    PREPARE  THE   LAWN   FOR    A   PLAYGROUND 

is  located  at  Compromise — between  Salem  and  Woodstown.     Serv- 
ices were  held  here  in  a  school  house. 

The  name  and  location  of  these  six  active  Sunday  schools  are 
as  follows : 


I — Presbyterian — Whig  Lane  in  Daretown  community. 
I — Methodist  Episcopal — Greenville  in  Elmer  community. 
2 — Baptist — Harmersville.     i — Cross  Roads. 

2 — Union. 
2 — Union  Protestant,     i — Penton  in  Salem  community. 

2 — Union  Grove  in  Woodstown  community. 

Only  one  of  these  Sunday  schools — that  at  Penton — is  held  in 
a  church  building,  the  rest  being  conducted  in  public  school  buildings. 

The  total  membership  of  these  six  schools  is  245,  and  their 
average  attendance  is  165,  or  sixty-seven  per  cent  of  the  entire  roll. 

All  pupils  come  from  farm  homes.     None  of  these  organizations 

66 


ORGANIZATION  AND  PROGRAM 

makes  any  effort  to  increase  the  attendance  by  contests,  rewards, 
etc.  Four  Sunday  schools  hold  services  throughout  the  year,  and 
have  annual  picnics.  Two  schools  hold  festivals.  No  scholars  are 
reported  as  having  joined  any  church  during  the  past  year. 

The  two  Baptist  Sunday  schools  are  assisted  by  the  pastor  from 
Canton  Baptist  Church.  The  Penton  school  reports  that  there  are 
about  sixteen  families,  nearly  all  tenant-farmers,  residing  in  the 
locality. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  school  at  Greenville,  is  attended  by 
people  of  all  denommations,  isolated  by  distance  from  any  other 
church. 

For  open  country  people,  these  schools  have  a  definite  place  in 
the  church  life  of  communities.  The  fact  that  three  of  them  are 
visited  by  ministers  shows  that  the  motive  behind  their  upkeep  is 
to  bring  children  far  removed  from  any  Sunday  school  attached  to 
a  church,  under  definite  religious  influence. 

PROTESTANT    PREACHING    POINTS 

Three  denominaticws  in  Salem  County  have  preaching  points  not 
organized  as  churches.  The  Lutheran  pastor  from  Friesburg 
preaches  at  Elmer,  while  the  Baptist  pastor  at  Daretown  serves  two 
other  points  within  this  community,  both  of  which  have  Sunday 
schools,  each  enrolling  forty-seven  and  having  an  average  attendance 
of  twenty-four.  Both  are  Union  schools  holding  services  eight  and 
a  half  months  of  the  year.  Four  scholars  from  each  school  joined 
the  church  last  year.  Church  services  are  held  once  a  month  to 
accommodate  members  of  the  churches  who  live  some  distance  from 
their  respective  churches. 


67 


Chapter  X 
"THE  PAR  STANDARD" 

ONE  of  the  developments  growing  out  of  the  Interchurch 
World  Movement  was  the  adoption  of  the  so-called  "Par 
Standard  for  Country  Churches."  This  standard  was  worked 
out,  and  approved  by  the  Town  and  Country  Committee  of  the  Home 
Missions  Council  and  was  submitted  to  a  large  group  of  survey 
workers  of  the  Interchurch  World  Movement  representing  every 
state  in  the  Union.  These  persons  had  all  done  field  survey  work 
and  were  familiar  with  the  various  conditions  existing  in  America. 
It  should  also  be  stated  that  in  addition  to  survey  experience  these 
men  had  been  country  ministers,  and  knew  intimately  the  problems 
of  the  rural  parish.  There  was  unanimous  agreement  among  them 
that  this  "Par  Standard"  should  be  placed  before  the  Country 
Churches  of  America,  not  as  ideal  beyond  accomplishment,  but  as 
a  goal,  which  a  church  might,  in  all  reasonableness,  expect  to  attain. 
Since  that  time,  one  denomination  and  the  hom.e  mission  department 
of  a  strong  division  of  another  have  adopted  the  "Par  Standard," 
with  slight  adaptations,  for  their  own  purposes. 

It  should  be  stated  that  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  give  com- 
parative value  to  the  points  in  this  standard.  So  far  as  the  table 
shows,  a  resident  pastor  on  full  time  counts  as  much  as  horse  sheds 
or  parking  space.  Obviously  this  is  a  weakness  in  the  standard, 
but  it  was  drawn  up,  not  for  the  purposes  of  comparative  evaluation, 
but  for  the  purposes  of  suggesting  minimum  achievements  for  an 
average  strong  country  congregation. 

The  points  covered  in  this  "Par  Standard"  for  country  churches 
are  as  follows : 

Up-to-date  Parsonage 

Adequate  Church  Auditorium  Space 

Social  and  Recreational  Equipment 

Well  Equipped  Kitchen 

Organ  or  Piano 

Sunday  school  rooms 

Stereopticon  or  Moving  Picture  Machine. 

Sanitary  toilets 

Horse  sheds  or  pariking  space 

Property  in  good  repair  and  condition. 

68 


Adequate 
Physical 
Equipment 


Pastor 

Finance 

]\Ieetings 
Parish 


Religious 
Education 


Program  of 
Work 


"THE  PAR  STANDARD" 

Resident  Pastor 
Full  Time  Pastor 
Service  Every  Sunday 
JNlinimum  Salary  of  $r,200. 

Annual  Church  Pmdget  adopted  annually 

Every  Member  Canvass 

Benevolences  Equal  to  25%  Current  Expenses. 

1    Cooperation  with  other  churches  in  community 
I    Systematic  Evangelism. 

Church  Serves  all  Racial  and  Occupational  Groups. 

Sunday  school  held  entire  year 

Sunday  school  enrollment  equal  to  Church  Membership 

Attempt  to  Bring  Pupils  to  Church 

Special  Instruction  for  Church  .Membership 

Teacher  Training  for  Normal  Class 

Provision  for  Leadership  Training. 

Organized  Activities  for  Age  and  Sex  Groups 
Cooperation  with  Boards  and  Denominational  Agencies 
Program   Adopted   Annually,   257©   of    Membership    Partici- 
pating 
Church  Reaching  Entire  Community. 


An  analysis  has  been  made  of  ten  churches  having  the  highest 
number  of  points  answered  affirmatively.  It  happens  that  nine  out 
of  these  ten  are  village  churches,  and  that  a  village  church  is  tied 
with  two  open  country  churches  for  the  tenth  place.  The  ten  village 
churches  which  have  achieved  the  best  standing  arc  listed  as  follows : 

One  reports   21  points  aflirmatively 

Two   report    18 

Three  report   17      " 

One  reports 16       "  " 

Three  report   15      "  " 


69 


Chapter  XI 
NEGRO  CHURCH  LIFE 

THE  colored  population  is  scattered  throughout  the  country. 
There  are,  however,  three  settlements  large  enough  to  be 
called  colored  communities :  Fenwick,  south  of  Woodstown 
on  the  railroad  from  Woodstown  to  Salem,  South  Woodstown, 
which  is  very  close  to  the  Woodstown  community,  and  Marshall- 
town,  a  settlement  northeast  of  Salem  consisting  of  a  group  of 
farms.  Yorktown,  while  not  yet  an  exclusively  colored  settlement, 
is  rapidly  becoming  one.  These  communities  are  small  and  exclu- 
sively rural,  though  in  the  case  of  South  Woodstown  and  Fenwick, 
some  of  the  wage  earners  in  the  population  go  to  Woodstown  or 
Salem  for  employment  in  the  industries.  Their  combined  popula- 
tion is  529,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  ten  are  in  the  hamlet  of  South 
Woodstown  and  the  rest  are  living  in  the  open  country. 

The  negro  population  is  not  as  stable  as  the  white.  It  has  to  be 
constantly  renewed  from  the  South,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  best 
informed  people  of  the  county,  has  succeeded  in  holding  its  own 
during  the  last  ten  years  only  because  of  new  influx  from  the  South. 
Two  of  the  communities  report  that  forty  per  cent  of  their  popula- 
tion has  been  resident  for  fifteen  years  or  more.  In  the  other 
community  there  was  no  well  informed  person  to  furnish  the 
information. 

Marshalltown  has  a  school  of  its  own,  and  the  school  at  South 
Woodstown  is  attended  by  the  grade  pupils  of  both  that  community 
and  of  Fenwick,  which  is  about  two  miles  to  the  south.  The  chil- 
dren walk  this  distance  to  the  negro  school,  which  is  quite  the  equal 
in  construction  and  equipment  of  the  main  building  at  Woodstown. 

Recreational  facilities  are  altogether  lacking,  save  for  the  occa- 
sional functions  which  are  held  at  the  school.  This  is  due  chiefly 
to  the  fact  that  the  people  of  these  communities  are  attracted  to  the 
nearby  centers  of  Woodstown  or  Salem,  and  they  have  therefore  had 
no  incentive  to  build  up  any  organizations  of  their  own.  There  are 
three  lodges  in  the  communities.  Two  of  these  are  for  men  and  one 
is  for  women. 

At  the  time  this  survey  was  being  made,  the  industrial  situation 

70 


NEGRO  CHURCH  LIFE 

of  Salem  was  beginning  its  readjustment.  In  1920,  the  powder 
industries  threw  off  their  excess  labor,  and  the  colored  workmen 
who  had  left  their  farms  were  going  back  to  them.  This  resulted 
in  not  a  little  discontent.  The  high  wages  were  gone,  and  in  com- 
parison farm  labor  seemed  neither  profitable  nor  attractive.  At 
present  negroes  are  employed  very  largely  as  farm  laborers  on  the 
larger  farms  of  the  county. 

At  the  county  seat,  the  moving-picture  theaters  have  separate 
galleries  for  the  colored  people.  Here  and  there,  among  the  farmers, 
there  is  a  feeling  that,  owing  to  the  change  in  the  industrial  situa- 


SCHOOL  FOR   COLORED   CHLLDREN,   SOUTH    WOODSTOWN 

tion,  negro  farm  labor  is  almost  helpless  from  the  point  of  view  of 
bargaining  power.  Leaders  in  Salem  County  expressed  concern 
over  certain  features  in  the  racial  situation  which  might  quite  prop- 
erly become  the  burden  of  an  inter-racial  committee.  Such  a  com- 
mittee, formed  at  the  present  time  along  the  lines  of  those  that 
operate  successfully  in  the  South,  would  practically  insure  continued 
and  increasing  harmony  and  cooperation  between  the  races. 

The  colored  'churches  of  Salem  County  number  eleven,  located 
as  follows : 

2  at  Fenwick 

2  at  Marshalltown 

2  at  Woodstown  (i  at  North  and  r  at  South  Woodstown) 

1  at  Quinton   (Berry  Chapel) 

2  at  Salem   (O.  C. — i  at  Claysvillc,   i  at  Moores  Corner) 
I  at  Penn's  Neck   (John  Wesley  Chapel) 

I  in  neutral  territory  near  Yorktown. 


71 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 


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I.... 

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NEGRO  COMMUNITY  AND  PARISH   MAP,   SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J.,    I92O. 

Of  these  eleven  churches  all  except  one  are  located  in  the  open 
country.     Denominationally  they  are  divided  as  follows: 

African  Union  Methodist  Protestant   3 

African  Methodist  Episcopal    2 

American  Union  Methodist  Episcopal    2 

Methodist   Episcopal    3 

Baptist   I 


The  older  colored  churches  were  organized  in  1805,  the  others 
between  1870  and  1919.  All  the  buildings  are  of  wood,  and  eight  of 
them  are  in  good  condition.  The  other  two  could  be  classed  as  fair. 
One  was  burned  down  shortly  after  this  survey  was  taken.  The 
value  of  the  buildings  is  $21,750.  Four  churches  have  parsonages, 
with  a  total  value  of  $2,400.  These  churches  report  the  total  value 
of  their  buildings  as  $3,895.  Nine  of  the  churches  are  one-room 
structures ;  the  other  has  two  rooms.     Their  total  seating  capacity 

72 


NEGRO  CHURCH  LIFE 

is  1,605.  Lighting  is  evenly  divided  between  electricity  and  oil. 
None  of  the  churches  has  stereopticons  nor  possesses  any  other 
equipment  for  social  purposes. 

The  total  church  strength  is  represented  by  615  members  of  whom 
only  378  or  sixty-one  per  cent  are.  resident  and  active.  While  no 
church  shows  a  considerable  gain,  yet,  as  a  whole,  there  is  progress. 
Sixty  new  members  were  added  last  year,  fifty-seven  by  confession 
of  faith.  The  total  loss  was  fifteen,  leaving  a  net  gain  for  the  year 
of  forty-five.  Eighty-seven  members  are  non-resident ;  two  hundred 
and  thirty-five  families  are  represented  in  this  number  of  active 
members  of  whom  seventy-five  live  in  the  villages  and  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  in  the  open  country. 

Complete  financial  records  exist  for  only  nine  of  the  churches. 
Three  use  single  weekly  envelopes,  two  have  a  budget  for  local 
needs,  and  two  budget  their  entire  expenditures.  Four  churches 
hold  an  annual  every  member  canvass ;  four  churches  have  small 
debts  incurred  for  improvements  to  building,  totalling  $1,572. 

The  total  amount  of  money  raised  on  the  field,  last  year,  by  the 
nine  churches  that  have  records  was  $10,726.36;  the  expenditures 
were  $10,457.36;  of  this  amount  $6,905  were  spent  for  salaries, 
$1,937  ^or  benevolences  and  missions  and  $2,615.36  for  all  other 
expenses. 

A  typical  dollar  is  disbursed  as  follows : 

For  salary $  .56 

"     benevolence    18 

"    contingent  expense    26 

$1.00 

The  average  amount  spent  per  active  member  is  as  follows : 

For  salary    $iS-62 

"     benevolence     5-12 

"    all  other  purposes   6.92 

$27.66 

Of  the  total  receipts,  twenty-eight  per  cent  was  raised  by  sub- 
scription, sixty-seven  per  cent  by  collections  and  five  per  cent  by 
miscellaneous  methods.  The  average  amount  received  per  active 
member  is  raised  in  the  following  manner : 

By  subscription    $  °-03 

"     collection    i8-93 

"    other  means 142 

$28.38 
73 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  active  members  of  the  colored 
congregations  are  liberal  and  enthusiastic  in  their  support  of  their 
church  organizations.  The  average  amount  of  money  contributed 
per  member  is  higher  for  the  negro  than  for  the  white  churches. 
In  the  conventional  ministries  of  religion,  the  negro  churches 
serve  their  constituency  well.  Nine  of  the  churches  have  at  least 
one  service  a  month.  Seven  held  protracted  meetings  last  year,  and 
report  a  total  of  thirty-five  converts.  Six  churches  unite  for  midweek 
services  and  eight  report  union  services  on  other  occasions. 

The  ten  Sunday  schools  have  a  total  membership  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  of  whom  all  are  reported  to  come  from  farm-homes. 
The  average  attendance  is  253.  Eight  of  the  schools  are  open 
throughout  the  year,  eight  make  efforts  to  increase  their  attendance 
by  the  usual  methods  of  rewards,  parties  and  cards.  Ten  have  an 
annual  Sunday  school  picnic* 

No  colored  school  reports  any  class  to  prepare  scholars  for 
church  membership,  but  thirteen  did  join  the  church  from  three  of 
the  schools  last  year.  Two  churches  report  five  scholars  attending 
educational  institutions  beyond  the  high  school  grade.  From  these 
schools  two  have  gone  into  some  form  of  Christian  work  within  the 
last  ten  years. 

There  is  real  life  in  the  program  of  some  of  these  churches. 
There  are  twelve  women's  societies  with  a  membership  of  244.  One 
boys'  society  and  one  for  girls  exists,  and  there  are  seven  young 
people's  organizations  with  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  As  is  often  the  case  among  negroes,  the  stronger  churches 
bulk  largely  in  the  life  of  the  people.  Five  do  charitable  and  benevo- 
lent work,  two  report  civic,  and  one  industrial  activities.  Two 
churches  have  social  and  recreational  activities,  two  educational  and 
cultural  programs,  five  celebrate  holidays. 

There  are  ten  negro  ministers  in  the  county,  of  whom  four 
devote  their  full  time  to  one  charge  each,  the  remaining  six  having 
other  charges.  One  of  the  ministers  has  another  occupation  besides 
preaching;  the  others  give  their  full  time  to  religious  work.  Their 
salaries  grade  as  follows : 

Maximum  salary   $i,7S0 

Minimum         "        180 

Average  "         739-44 

*  A  temporary  Sunday  school  is  held  at  Quinton  of  the  colored  IMethodist 
Episcopal  denomination.  The  enrollment  is  twenty-five  and  the  average  at- 
tendance is  twenty.  This  is  really  a  mission  school,  run  hy  members  of  Berry 
Chapel,  and  supported  by  money  raised  from  entertainments.  The  school 
is  held  throughout  the  year,  and  has  an  annual  picnic  and  class  socials  from 
time  to  time. 

74 


Chapter  XII 
NON-PROTESTANT  CHURCHES 

THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH 

AT  the  time  when  the  original  survey  was  taken,  the  Roman 
CathoHc  church  at  Ehner  was  inactive.  Since  than  it  has 
been  successfully  revived.  Apart  from  the  county-seat 
church  at  Salem  city,  the  only  other  Catholic  organization  is 
St.  Joseph's  at  Woodstown.  This  is  a  strong  parish.  The  building 
is  modern  and  free  of  debt.  It  allows  its  priest  a  good  rectory  and 
a  Ford  car.     The  property  exceeds  $25,000  in  value. 

The  equipment  of  the  church  is  designed  to  minister  to  the 
farmer  as  well  as  the  townsman.  Out  of  a  membership  of  350, 
which  number  includes  children,  two-thirds  of  the  members  are  from 
the  homes  of  farmers.  These  members  live  as  far  as  the  northern 
border  of  the  county  and  in  other  directions  extend  several  miles 
each  way  from  Woodstown.  The  attendance  at  the  Sunday  service 
is  very  high  compared  with  the  membership.  As  a  village  church, 
however,  the  priest  faces  the  problem  of  having  "too  much  of  a 
Sunday  job."  He  feels  that  it  is  difficult  to  reach  his  people  through 
the  week-days  as  they  are  not  accustomed  to  come  to  Woodstown 
for  week-day  activities.  The  priest  believes  in  advertising,  and  uses 
the  mails  largely.  Situated  as  it  is  in  a  prosperous  farming  com- 
munity, St.  Joseph's  has  no  financial  worries. 

Progress  has  been  slow,  though  the  membership  has  been  gaining 
during  the  past  ten  years.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  priest's  liking 
for  the  work.  He  regards  a  country  parish  as  being  rich  in  oppor- 
tunity and  presenting  one  of  the  best  fields  in  which  to  work. 

JEWISH    SYNAGOGUES 

There  are  five  Jewish  synagogues  in  Salem  County,  four  located 
in  the  vicinity  of  Norma  and  one  in  the  open  country,  one  and  one- 
half  miles  southeast  of  Monroeville..  All  except  one  are  without 
regular  rabbis.  The  total  value  of  the  five  buildings  is  $9,300.  All 
buildings  are  of  wood. 

75 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 


NORMA 
JEWISH    SYNAGOGUES 

The  total  receipts  for  last  year  were  $1,256.     The  expenditures, 

which  amounted  to  $1,250,  were  divided  as  follows: 

For   salaries    $  300.00 

benevolences     600.00 

"      interest    50.00 

"      repairs    , 17500 

other  expenditures    125.00 

$1,250.00 

Of  the  total  receipts  $656  were  raised  by  subscription,  $450  by 
collection,  and  $150  by  other  means. 

Membership 

The  total  enrollment  of  the  five  organizations  is  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight.  Only  six  of  these  are  non-resident.  Eighteen 
members  are  non-active.     Thus  the  net  active  membership  is  104. 

76 


NON-PROTESTANT  CHURCHES 

Services 

Four  synagogues  hold  four  services  per  month ;  one  holds  eight. 
Union  services  are  held  on  holidays.  In  this  area  there  are  about 
thirty  Poles  who  are  farmers  and  laborers.  Among  the  Jewish 
organizations  there  is  a  Free  Loan  Association  which  takes  collec- 
tions for  the  poor.  There  is  also  a  Jewish  Children's  Club,  which, 
however,  was  not  very  active  at  the  time  this  survey  was  made. 

Money  is  sent  to  aid  the  Zionist  movement  and  for  support  of 
workers  in  Jerusalem.  The  poor  in  the  "Old  Countries"  are  aided 
as  is  the  Poor  Man's  Society  in  Philadelphia. 

The  moving  away  of  the  young  people  is  one  of  the  chief  prob- 
lems confronting  the  Jewish  organizations.  Another,  and  perhaps 
more  serious  problem  is  that  of  securing  rabbis,  since  the  field  is 
small  and  the  future  somewhat  uncertain. 


77 


Ill 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

THE  survey  of  Salem  County  as  presented  in  this  pamphlet 
is  open  to  its  own  interpretation  on  the  part  of  all  those  who 
have  to  do  with  the  county  or  who  read  these  results.  It  is 
for  the  local  people  through  their  churches  and  social  agencies,  in 
cooperation  with  their  state  officers,  to  work  out  any  policies  and 
programs  which  they  feel  will  meet  the  need.  Those  who  had  to 
do  with  the  survey  do  not  have  the  task  of  formulating  the  program. 
They  simply  here  record  their  own  conclusions  and  recommendations 
on  the  basis  of  the  facts  discovered. 

ASSETS 

To  accept  the  traditional  standards  of  church  work  and  com- 
munity life,  and,  to  proceed  on  such  a  basis  to  compare  Salem 
County  with  other  areas  in  rural  America,  leads  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  situation  within  Salem  is  somewhat  above  the  average. 
Roads  are  extensive  and  good.  The  soil  is  for  the  most  part  fertile 
and  the  county  is  agriculturally  prosperous.  Farm-tenantry  is 
decreasing.  There  are  leaders  in  most  phases  of  community  life. 
While  this  is  more  noticeable  in  some  communities  than  in  others, 
it  is  general  throughout  the  county.  Although  this  leadership 
needs  to  be  enlarged  and  strengthened,  through  its  influence  the 
beginnings  of  a  social  spirit  have  become  manifest.  This  may  be 
seen  in  the  enlarged  program  of  the  school,  in  the  activity  of  the 
Farm  Bureau  and  the  Farmers'  Exchange,  in  the  work  of  the  Child 
Welfare  Week  recently  held  and  in  similar  activities.  Back  of  it 
all  is  an  historic  background  of  nearly  two  hundred  years  of  life 
and  achievement — a  background  which  cannot  help  but  have  a 
stabilizing  influence.  The  churches  of  the  county  have  substantial 
buildings,  at  least  in  many  of  the  larger  and  more  prosperous  com- 
munities. Salem  County  believes  in  resident  ministers  for  its 
churches.  The  average  size  of  its  congregations  is  large,  half  of 
them  consisting  of  one  hundred  or  more  active  members.  The 
financial  investment  of  the  people  of  the  count}-  in  religious  activities 
is  about  the  average  for  counties  in  the  northeast  and  Middle 
Atlantic  states,  though  it  is  not  yet  adequate  for  the  work  that  needs 

81 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

to  be  done.  The  county  believes  in  religious  education,  practically 
every  church,  white  or  colored,  having  its  Sunday  school.  The 
women  of  the  churches  are  organized  and  active.  Salem  is  a  county 
that  has  the  ability  to  achieve  that  which  it  sets  out  to  do.  These 
assets  are  the  foundation  upon  which  can  be  built  an  imposing 
structure.  Unlike  many  a  rural  county,  the  foundation  in  Salem 
has  been  "well  and  truly''  laid. 

NEGLECTED    AREAS    AND    GROUPS 

When  all  this  has  been  said,  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  there 
are  a  number  of  problems  awaiting  action  by  the  churches  of  the 
county.     Among  them  is  a  ministry  to  neglected  areas  and  groups. 

Salem  Rural  Community 

A  comparison  of  the  population  figures  for  the  Salem  rural  com- 
munity with  those  of  church  membership  indicates  a  serious  failure 
on  the  part  of  the  church  to  reach  these  people.  The  figures  show 
(page  55)  that  of  3,098  people  living  in  the  rural  area  contiguous 
to  Salem  there  are  only  one  hundred  and  eighty  church  members. 
Roughly  speaking  this  means  that  at  least  700  adults  in  this  small 
but  fertile  area  are  untouched  either  by  the  churches  of  the  city  of 
Salem  or  by  the  country  churches  of  Ouinton,  Hancock's  Bridge  and 
the  other  nearby  communities.  An  immediate  house-to-house  survey 
should  be  undertaken,  cooperatively,  by  the  churches  of  Salem  and 
those  that  lie  to  the  east  of  this  untouched  area,  to  determine  how 
best  to  reach  these  people.  Salem  churches,  according  to  parish 
boundaries,  cover  the  whole  area  but  they  minister  simply  to  their 
own  members  and  to  those  who  seek  them  out.  Here,  within  easy 
reach  of  the  county  seat,  is  a  neglected  source  of  spiritual  strength. 
Nearly  three  thousand  people,  today  outside  the  organized  churches, 
constitute  the  challenging  opportunity  of  the  congregations  near  to 
them.  It  is  pertinent  to  remark  that  if  any  efforts  are  made  toward 
reaching  this  group  of  people  it  will  call  for  the  assistance  and 
sympathy  of  the  members  of  the  Salem  churches,  especially  since 
such  an  effort  would  make  new  demands  on  the  time  of  the  religious 
leaders  of  the  county  seat.  Similarly,  there  is  a  smaller  unreached 
area  contiguous  to  Penns  Grove  and  Carney's  Point. 

Farm  Laborers 

The  church  rolls  contain  a  very  small  number  of  farm  laborers. 
These,  of  course,  are  largely  transient  and  partly  foreign.  Good 
results  might  be  obtained  by  inviting  farm  laborers  to  church  services 

82 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

and  making  them  feel  that  Salem  County  has  other  things  to  give 
besides  wages,  and  other  things  to  receive  besides  labor. 

Children  from  the  Less-favored  Farms 

Some  farmers  whose  holdings,  judged  from  an  agricultural 
standpoint,  are  in  the  poorer  sections  of  the  county,  and  who  do  not 
own  automobiles,  are  often  remote  from  a  church  and  sometimes 
from  a  Sunday  school.  A  number  of  neighborhood  Sunday  schools 
have  been  abandoned  in  the  last  decade  due  to  the  decreasing  popula- 
tion and  the  removal  of  leaders.  The  churches  should  not  allow  these 
people  to  be  forgotten.  The  more  prosperous  of  their  neighbors 
might  arrange  to  take  the  children  to  Sunday  school,  or  members  of 
the  church  owning  automobiles  could,  with  great  advantage  to  these 
people,  take  turns  in  operating  "free  church  jitneys."  Elsewhere  the 
school  'bus  has  been  effectively  used  to  bring  children  to  Sunday 
school. 

Every  summer,  Elsinboro  Township  is  populated  by  those  who 
come  from  the  cities  to  spend  the  summer  along  the  waters  of  Dela- 
ware Bay.  Many  of  them  come  from  the  city  of  Salem,  but  an 
increasing  number  are  from  places  outside  of  the  county.  There 
have  been  spasmodic  attempts  to  hold  Sunday-school  services  during 
the  season,  but  these  have  failed  through  lack  of  interested  local 
leadership.  With  the  exception  of  some  cottage  prayer  meetings, 
held  by  the  pastor  of  one  of  the  Salem  churches,  practically  no  reli- 
gious work  has  been  done  during  the  summer.  It  is  claimed  by  some 
that  transportation  to  and  from  Salem  is  so  inadequate  as  greatly 
to  discourage  those  who  otherwise  would  be  inclined  to  attend 
services  there.  Whether  this  is  true  or  not,  the  fact  remains  that 
every  summer  quite  a  number  of  people  are  gathered  in  a  compara- 
tively small  township  without  any  immediately  available  nearby 
religious  service  during  the  two  or  three  months  they  reside  in  this 
locality. 

There  are  those  who  are  interested  in  oft'ering  the  ministry  of 
religion  to  the  prisoners  in  the  jail  and  road  camp,  but  it  is  a  service 
which  those  most  interested  in  are  the  first  to  describe  as  inadequate. 
Here  is  an  opportunity  for  regular  cooperative  ministry  which  should 
not  be  neglected. 

MISSIONARY   INTEREST   AND   LIFE    SERVICE 

The  extent  and  depth  of  the  missionary  interest  of  the  Salem 
County  churches  and  Sunday  schools  is  encouraging.  The  tables  on 
page    47    show    that     the    open     country    churches    give     nearly 

83 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

one-third  of  their  income  to  benevolences.  The  village  churches  do 
nearly  as  well.  Ideally,  the  least  a  prosperous  church  should  do  is 
to  give  as  much  to  extend  the  work  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  to 
sustain  its  own  life.  It  is,  however,  only  when  churches  are  well 
organized  and  stable  that  they  begin  to  contribute  to  the  extension 
of  the  work  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent. 
Salem  County  reflects  a  good,  average  condition,  in  that  it  has  reached 
this  level.  But  it  is  surprising  to  discover  how  little  it  has  done  to 
sustain  and  perpetuate  this  missionary  interest.  Educationally  and 
in  many  other  ways,  Salem  County  is  not  content  with  merely 
average  achievement.  If  efi^orts  were  made  to  stimulate  and  increase 
giving,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  results  would  be  most  significant. 
Planted  in  such  sympathetic  soil,  an  annual,  cooperative  country- 
wide campaign  of  mission  study  classes  in  the  churches,  followed  by 
missionary  educational  institutes  addressed  by  speakers  of  note, 
would  bring  forth  much  fruit.  The  united  power  of  the  churches 
moving  along  these  or  similar  lines  would  supplement  the 
willingness  of  the  people  to  give.  Under  such  stimulation  and 
cultivation,  young  people  might  be  led  to  invest  their  lives 
definitely  in  Christian  service  on  both  home  and  foreign  fields. 
It  is  disappointing  to  note  that  with  willingness  to  give  in 
money,  there  has  been  no  corresponding  willingness  to  invest  life. 
During  the  last  ten  years,  only  three  persons  have  gone  out  from  the 
town  and  country  Sunday  schools  of  Salem  County  into  definite 
Christian  service. 

RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    AND    PREPARATION    FOR 
CHURCH    MEMBERSHIP 

Salem  County  believes  in  Sunday  schools  but  surprisingly  few 
have  introduced  the  modern  methods  of  religious  education  which 
are  increasingly  in  vogue  elsewhere.  Ten  schools  are  graded.  Four- 
fifths  of  the  schools  have  no  organized  classes,  and  five-sixths  have 
no  teacher  training  classes.  During  the  past  year,  only  eleven  schools 
sent  any  of  their  scholars  into  church  membership.  This  perhaps 
is  the  most  serious  fact  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  future. 

More  careful  attention  should  be  given  to  the  preparation  of 
young  people-  for  church  membership.  With  the  strong  traditions 
of  Salem  County,  it  is  especially  unfortunate  that  this  matter  seems 
to  be  so  largely  neglected  by  the  churches.  One  way  of  meeting  the 
situation  would  be  to  form  classes  in  preparation  for  church  mem- 
bership in  the  Sunday  schools,  or  to  hold  them  for  a  period  of  weeks 
as  an  extra  group  meeting.     In  such  classes  the  meaning  of  the 

84. 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Gospel  could  be  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to  check  the  leak  from 
the  Sunday  schools  and  carry  over  the  'teen-age  scholars  into  full 
church  membership  and  Christian  service.  The  results  attained  by 
the  churches  that  make  careful  preparation  for  church  membership 
as  compared  v^ith  those  that  do  not,  entirely  justify  this  conclusion. 

EQUIPMENT 

No  church  today  can  fulfill  its  complete  mission  with  a  one-room 
building.  In  the  pioneer  days  this  was  sufficient.  A  church  today 
is  a  community  center  just  as  it  was  in  the  eighteenth  century,  but 
with  far  greater  responsibilities  because  of  the  increased  knowledge 
which  the  world  has  gained,  and  the  increased  complexity  of  modern 
life.  Sand-tables,  maps,  stereopticons.  pictures,  class-rooms — all 
these  and  more  enter  into  the  equipment  of  the  modern  church. 
Compared  with  the  prosperity  of  the  county,  Salem's  churches  are 
strangely  lacking  in  this  modern  equipment.  Except  for  two 
stereopticons,  no  special  equipment  at  all  is  reported.  Many  of  the 
buildings  are,  however,  adaptable  for  a  more  modern  program, 
having  at  their  disposal  more  than  one  room. 

In  planning  constructive  programs  for  the  future,  the  churches 
of  Salem  County  should  take  full  advantage  of  the  buildings  which 
they  have,  and  should  add  to  their  equipment,  particularly  to  that 
type  which  will  enable  them  the  more  successfully  to  impress  young 
people  in  other  ways  than  through  the  spoken  word.  The  teaching 
of  the  Bible  can  be  brought  home  today  through  the  eye  and  the 
hand,  as  well  as  through  the  ear. 

RECREATION 

The  question  of  equipment  is  closely  related  to  that  of  recreation. 
Thus  far  in  Salem  County,  the  recreational  program  has  been  almost 
entirely  a  hit-or-miss  affair.  Less  than  one-third  of  Salem's  com- 
munities have  any  organized  recreational  facilities  other  than  those 
of  a  commercial  nature.  The  success  of  the  modest  attempts  toward 
an  adequate  recreational  program  which  has  attended  efiforts  made 
in  a  few  places  shows  that  there  is  a  great  opportunity  and  obligation 
lying  upon  the  churches  and  schools  in  connection  with  this  phase 
of  life.  Leisure-time  activities  are  a  great  influence  in  determining 
character.  The  boy  or  girl  who  plays  clean,  and  learns  team  work 
is  ready  tO'  learn  to  live  clean  and  to  cooperate  with  others.  Both 
church  and  school  can  accomplish  much  by  a  properly  directed 
recreational  program.  In  some  communities,  this  is  clearly  the  task 
of  the  church.     In  others,  the  church  and  school  could  cooperate. 

85 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

Interchurch  socials,  a  county  church  athletic  league  promoting  base- 
ball and  basketball,  educational  films  and  moving-picture  machines 
are  enterprises  typical  of  what  might  be  done  in  a  situation  such  as 
Salem's.  Given  a  county  Y.M.C.A.  organization,  its  secretary  could 
easily  become  the  boys'  work  staff  officer  of  all  the  churches  in  the 
county,  training  local  church  and  school  leaders  in  a  program  that 
would  net  large  results. 

boys'  and  girls'  work   . 

A  marked  contrast  exists  between  the  efforts  which  the  schools 
of  Salem  County  are  making  to  meet  the  needs  of  adolescent  boys 
and  the  program  of  the  churches  for  the  same  purpose.  Scout  troops 
are  usually  under  the  auspices  of  the  school.  If  we  except  the 
Junior  Societies  of  the  Christian  Endeavor,  there  is  only  one  organ- 
ization for  boys  and  one  for  girls  in  the  county  connected  with  the 
churches.  The  later  'teen-age  boys  and  girls  have,  of  course,  their 
young  people's  societies,  but  the  early  adolescent  period  is  almost 
entirely  neglected.  There  should  be  strong  and  aggressive  work  in 
this  connection.  Churches  elsewhere,  in  wdiich  such  work  has  been 
tried  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  render  it  no  longer  an 
experiment,  know  that  they  bring  their  boys  and  girls  to  Christian 
manhood  and  womanhood  far  more  easily  and  far  more  effectively, 
in  terms  of  both  faith  and  service,  than  they  did  before  instituting 
such  work.  The  attitude  of  the  public  schools  of  the  county  insures 
their  cooperation  with  any  church  efforts,  which  might  be  projected. 
Church  and  school  should  be  co-workers  to  the  one  end  of  building 
and  educating  Christian  citizenship. 

INDIFFERENCE 

Indifference  to  the  Church  of  Christ  exists  everywhere.  Such 
indift'erence  is  always  a  challenge  to  Christians.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  to  find  certain  of  the  church  leaders  in  Salem  County 
declaring  that  the  people  are  indifferent  to  the  ministry  of  religion. 
The  .total  rural  population  of  the  county  is  17,562.  The  total  active 
church  membership  is  4,351.  This  includes  the  churches  of  all 
races  and  religions.  The  net  active  membership  of  the  evangelical 
churches  is  3,897.  In  other  words,  only  twenty-four  and  seven- 
tenths  per  cent,  of  the  population  are  members  of  evangelical 
churches.  Of  course,  a  certain  proportion  of  the  non-church  mem- 
bers are  children,  but  making  due  allowance  for  these,  the  Church  has 
not  received  the  loyalty  of  more  than  half  of  the  adults  within  the 
county.     A  situation  like  this  should  lead  to  inquiry  on  the  part  of 

86 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

the  Church.  It  may  be  indifference,  but  how  is  it  to  be  startled  into 
interest  ?  It  may  mean  that  the  program  which  satisfies  church  mem- 
bers has  failed  to  grip  those  outside  the  organized  congregations. 
Indifference  there  surely  is.  In  the  very  nature  of  the  case  its  exis- 
tence must  be  a  challenge  to  those  who  hold  in  high  regard  not  only 
the  Church  but  also  the  well-being  of  their  fellow-men. 

SELF-SATISFACTION 

A  state  of  mind  parallel  to  indifference  is  self-satisfaction,  and, 
to  a  certain  degree,  Salem  County  is  guilty  of  this.  To  be  sure  it 
has  a  right  to  be  proud  of  its  history  and  prosperity.  The  danger 
is  that  these  things  may  cause  the  people  and  their  leaders  to  be 
contented  with  things  as  they  are.  The  way  in  which  this  feeling 
works  out  is  apparent  in  a  number  of  ways.  For  instance,  Salem 
County  did  not  employ  a  County  Farm  Bureau  Agent  until  after 
all  its  neighbors  had  one.  Even  now  it  has  neither  a  home  demon- 
stration agent  nor  a  rural  nurse.  The  county  is  content  to  send  many 
of  its  high  school  pupils  to  cities  in  other  counties  for  their  courses. 
Teachers  reported  that  the  recognition  on  the  part  of  pupils  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  county  was  one  of  the  most  difficult  influences  they 
are  called  upon  to  combat,  since  it  tends  toward  a  lack  of  incentive 
for  \.'ork. 

CITY    ISOLATION 

This  is  the  reverse  side  of  the  oft-discussed  problem  of  rural 
isolation.  In  regard  to  Salem,  there  is  an  unavoidable  impression 
that  the  cities  live  too  much  to  and  for  themselves.  Except  in  the 
matter  of  schools,  the  cities  share  very  few  of  their  advantages  with 
the  farmers.  Salem  Y.M.C.A.  has  only  twenty  members  from  the 
neighboring  rural  community,  and  does  no  extension  work  anywhere 
in  the  county.  The  two  public  health  nurses  confine  their  attention 
to  the  city.  The  church  situation  along  this  line  has  already  been 
discussed.  The  hospital  receives  patients  from  the  countryside  but 
does  no  out-patient  work.  A  beginning  in  a  better  policy  is  the 
County  Child  Welfare  Week  held  shortly  after  the  last  survey 
worker  had  left  the  county.  Such  undertakings,  if  made  part  of  a 
definite  policy  and  extended,  would  contribute  largely  to  the  physical 
and  social  well-being  of  the  county.  Possibly  such  extension  work 
would  call  for  financial  support  which  does  not  now  seem  to  be 
available.  A  better  understanding  between  town  and  country  would 
probably  change  this.  The  trend  throughout  America  is  largely  in 
the  direction  of  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  any  given  community 

87 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

is  made  up  of  the  town  and  its  contiguous  rural  territory.  The 
consciousness  of  inter-relation  and  mutual  dependence,  when 
strengthened  and  deepened,  contributes  greatly  to  progress  along 
all  lines  of  mutual  interest. 

DECLINING    CHURCH    MEMBERSHIP 

The  membership  tables  on  page  57  show  that  the  total  member- 
ship of  the  churches  within  the  county  has  increased.  At  the  same 
time,  practically  all  of  this  increase  is  absorbed  by  a  dozen  of  the 
strongest  churches.  If  the  present  rate  of  decrease  in  active  mem- 
bership continues,  one-third  of  the  churches  in  Salem  County  will 
within  the  next  few  years  have  to  face  the  question  of  their  continu- 
ance or  abandonment.  The  table  on  page  58  tells  the  story  which 
the  reader  may  interpret  for  himself.  The  figures  given  on  the 
actual  church  schedules,  which  of  course  could  not  be  printed  in 
detail,  strengthen  the  impression.  The  matter  is  one  that  calls  for 
denominational  oversight,  and  for  the  appraisal  of  respective  situa- 
tions. Sixteen  of  Salem  County's  churches  have  less  than  one  hun- 
dred active  members ;  only  three  of  them  show  any  gains,  and  these 
have  been  slight.  Nine — practically  one-third  of  the  churches  in  the 
county — have  less  than  fifty  active  members.  There  are  but  two 
ways  of  meeting  this  situation.  One  is  to  subsidize  these  churches 
with  home  mission  aid.  This  would  not,  however,  check  the  move- 
ment of  population  away  from  these  neighborhoods.  It  would  result 
simply  in  perpetuating  weak  organizations,  which,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  could  not  sustain,  competitively,  an  effective  ministry. 
The  other  is  through  cooperation  among  the  churches  of  the  county, 
in  the  attempt  to  work  out  some  plan  that  would  enable  the  strong 
congregations  to  help  the  weak.  If  these  weak  churches  were  at 
last  abandoned,  such  a  plan  would  prepare,  finally,  for  the  adequate 
churching  of  these  neighborhoods  on  the  part  of  neighboring  and 
strong  congregations  who  could  divide  the  territory  by  mutual 
agreement.  In  this  way,  the  complete  abandonment  by  the  church 
of  whole  neighborhoods,  such  as  has  occurred  within  some  parts 
of  the  colonial  area  can  be  avoided. 

OVERCHURCHING 

In  general,  Salem  County  is  neither  underchurched  nor  over- 
churched.  This  statement  must  be  qualified,  however,  by  drawing 
attention  to  the  fact  that  there  are  two  churches  in  each  of  four 
small  communities,  not  one  of  which  is  more  than  able  to  support 
one   strong  organization.     The   situation   in  these   communities   is 

88 


CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

pathetic.  Church  Hfe  becomes  little  more  than  a  mere  effort  to 
hold  on  to  present  membership  and  the  hope  of  gaining  one  or  two 
a  year  from — goodness  knows  where!  In  all  but  one  of  these  com- 
munities, the  population  is  decreasing,  and  the  church  people  are 
discouraged  over  the  situation.  The  plan  of  reciprocal  exchange 
between  denominations,  evolved  in  Maine  and  tried  out  so  success- 
fully in  recent  years  by  Baptist,  Methodist  and  Congregational 
churches  in  Vermont,  could  well  be  attempted  in  these  cases.  In 
three  of  these  instances  of  overchurching,  the  denominations  con- 
cerned are  the  Alethodist  and  Baptist.  The  exception  is  a  com- 
munity in  which  the  Friends  and  the  Methodists  are  operating. 

FREQUENCY   OF    MINISTERIAL    CHANGE 

The  churches  of  Salem  County  believe  in  a  resident  pastor. 
This  fact  has  been  noted  before  and  it  is  the  partial  explanation 
of  the  strength  of  some  of  the  churches.  Of  late  years,  however, 
pastoral  changes  have  been  so  rapid  as  to  destroy  much  of  the  good 
effect  a  settled  pastorate  has  upon  a  congregation.  One-half  of  the 
churches  of  the  county  have  been  changing  ministers  every  two 
years,  or  less.  (See  page  52.)  In  the  six  months  following  the 
making  of  this  survey,  and  prior  to  the  publication  of  this  pamphlet, 
there  were  seven  additional  changes.  The  frequency  of  these  changes 
has,  probably,  several  determining  causes.  The  condition  which  has 
arisen  may  be  the  fault  either  of  the  ministers  or  the  people.  The 
responsibilities  are  not  easy  to  determine  and  vary  with  the  dift'erent 
fields.  One  fundamental  cause  is  undoubtedly  the  economic.  The 
average  salary  of  the  ministers  of  Salem  County  is  only  $1,113. 
The  modal  average  runs  between  $1,250  and  $1,500.  This  includes 
the  value  of  parsonage-privileges  where  such  exist.  Even  consider- 
ing the  reduction  in  living  costs,  these  figures  are  below  government 
estimates  of  the  minimum  wage  required  to  sustain  an  average 
family.  Economic  stringency,  especially  when  borne  in  the  midst 
of  prosperity  such  as  exists  in  Salem  County,  cannot  but  tend  to 
undermine  the  morale  of  the  ministry.  The  least  that  the  church 
can  do  is  to  pay  a  living  wage.  The  entire  condition,  economic  as 
well  as  spiritual,  calls  for  much  heart-searching  among  church 
leaders  and  officers.  They  are  responsible  for  the  life  of  their 
churches,  for  they  stay  on,  while  ministers  come  and  go. 

INVESTMENT    IN    RELIGION 

As  already  stated,  when  compared  with  those  of  other  counties, 
the  white  Protestant  churches  of  Salem  County  make  a  fair  showing 

89 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

in  per  capita  giving.  When  the  weahh  of  the  county  is  considered, 
however,  the  showing  is  not  so  good.  The  proof  Hes  within  the 
county  itself.  The  white  people  are,  admittedly,  in  a  stronger  eco- 
nomic position  than  the  negroes.  Yet  if  the  members  of  the  white 
evangelical  churches  gave  as  much  per  capita  as  do  their  negro 
brethren,  the  income  of  their  churches  would  be  $35,000  higher  than 
it  is  at  present.  This  sum  would  put  into  effect  all  the  suggestions 
growing  out  of  this  survey,  would  raise  ministerial  salaries  in  such 
a  way  as  to  eliminate  much  of  the  restlessness  previously  noted, 
provide  much  needed  educational  and  social  equipment  and  furnish 
greatly  increased  missionary  offerings. 

COUNTY-WIDE    RELIGIOUS     COOPERATION 

The  only  county-wide  agency  for  religious  cooperation  is  the 
Sabbath  School  Association.  There  seems  to  be  room  for  an  organ- 
ization which  would  put  the  ministers  of  the  entire  county  into  closer 
touch  with  each  other.  Certain  tasks,  falling  between  the  churches, 
are  uncared  for  through  lack  of  mutual  understanding  and  coopera- 
tive planning.  A  county  ministerial  association  or  conference,  a 
cotmty  council  of  churches,  or  some  such  agency  could  very  readily 
undertake  a  closer  coordination  of  the  religious  forces  of  the  county 
and  the  execution  of  any  religious  program  upon  which  the  churches 
of  the  county  decided.  In  the  judgment  of  the  surveyors  there  is 
a  definite  need  for  such  an  organization. 

CONCLUSION 

Salem  County  is  not  content  with  a  merely  average  achievement 
in  the  realms  of  education,  agriculture  or  business.  Its  tradition  is 
one  of  slow,  steady  progress.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  county 
so  prosperous,  and  promising,  as  Salem  should  be  content  with  the 
average  attainment  on  the  part  of  the  forces  of  religion.  The  time 
has  come  for  a  cooperative,  all-along-the-line  advance  in  the  intensive 
cultivation  of  the  opportunities  that  the  churches  have.  Within 
this  prosperous  county,  with  its  fine  traditions  and  assets,  the 
churches  should  equip  themselves  to  meet  the  tasks  that  confront 
them,  and  thus  enable  Salem  County  to  become  one  of  the  leaders 
in  the  full-orbed  application  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  human 
life  in  the  country. 


90 


APPENDIX 

On  May  24,  1921,  an  all-day  Church  Development  Conference 
was  held  at  the  Court  House  in  Salem,  at  which  the  results  of  this 
survey  were  presented  to  delegates  from  the  churches  of  the  county. 
Representatives  were  present  from  every  denomination  doing  work 
in  the  county,  and  from  nearly  every  church.  The  social  and  official 
agencies  were  also  representd.  The  responsible  overhead  denomi- 
national officials  attended,  as  did  ten  members  of  the  Joint  Com- 
mittee on  Utilizing  Surveys. 

The  conference  convened  under  the  chairmanship  of  Rev. 
William  Tatlock  of  Woodstown.  The  chairman  of  the  Findings 
Committee  was  Rev.  C.  H.  Thompson,  also  of  Woodstown.  The 
chairman  of  the  local  Committee  of  Arrangements  was  Rev.  Elliston 
J.  Perot. 

After  a  thorough  discussion,  a  report  of  the  Findings  Committee 
was  adopted.    The  Report  follows : 

Voted  :  That  the  Salem  City  Ministerial  Association  be  requested 
to  call  a  meeting,  to  be  composed  of  the  pastor  and  one  lay  delegate 
from  each  church  in  the  county,  for  the  organization  of  a  county 
council  of  churches,  this  Council  to  be  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  coordinating  the  work  of  the  churches  in  all  fields  of  mutual 
activity,  and  for  the  purpose  of  coordinating  the  work  of  the  churches 
in  all  fields  of  mutual  interest,  and  for  the  purpose  of  allowing 
opportunities  for  such  joint  activities  as  may  prove  useful  to  those 
churches  which  cooperate. 

Voted:  That  the  matter  of  a  religious  census  of  Salem  city's 
rural  community  be  referred  to  the  Salem  City  Ministerial  Asso- 
ciation. 

Voted:  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  meeting  that  the  frequent 
changes  in  pastorates  are  detrimental  to  the  life  of  the  churches  and 
that  as  a  first  step  towards  remedying  the  situation  the  churches  of 
Salem  County  should  strive  to  provide  an  adequate  salary  and  par- 
sonage for  every  full-time  resident  pastor. 

91 


SURVEY  OF  SALEM  COUNTY,  N.  J. 

Voted  :  That  the  larger  churches  of  the  county,  or  those  churches 
which  have  sole  responsibility  for  ministering  to  their  community, 
be  urged  to  secure  stereopticon,  moving-picture  machines  or  other 
social  equipment,  and  that  they  utilize  the  Sunday  schools  and  Young 
People's  Societies  for  aggressive  work  among  adolescent  boys  and 
girls. 

Voted:  That  the  county  council,  if  formed,  should  appoint  a 
strong  committee  on  boys'  and  girls'  work. 

Voted:  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  meeting  that  the  maintenance 
of  regular  service  at  the  jail,  the  road  camp,  the  hospital,  etc.,  is  a 
matter  of  importance,  which  should  be  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  county  council,  and  that  should  have  its  strong  support. 

Voted  :  That  the  churches  be  urged  to  utilize  automobiles  on 
Sunday  wherever  possible,  for  transporting  distant  members  or 
constituents,  and  that  church  members  assist  in  helping  their  churches 
reach  their  entire  possible  constituency. 

Voted:  That  the  situation  at  Alloway  and  Canton  be  taken  up 
with  the  representatives  of  the  denominations  concerned  in  con- 
junction with  the  local  people. 

Voted  :  That  after  full  understanding  between  denominations 
at  work  in  Pedricktown  there  be  special  activity  among  the  foreign- 
born  farm  laborers. 


92 


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